Former Australian cricketer Allan Border wants the Australian team to play hard and fair cricket against Team India in the upcoming World Test Championship final, which will take place from June 7 to June 11 at The Oval in London. He slammed Steve Smith’s ‘thumbs-up’ gesture during the Border Gavaskar Trophy series, which took place earlier this year.
Allan Border expressed that Steve Smith was too friendly with the Indian cricketer during the Border Gavaskar series. He expressed that there should be friendly rivalry, but not excessive. Allan Border added that Smith’s ‘thumbs-up’ gesture was “over the top”. Speaking to Code Sports, he said,
“You can have that friendly rivalry without being excessive, like Smith…in India, he gave the thumbs up every time he got a good ball.”
“I thought that was a bit over the top. You are in a contest out there. I’d be playing with a harder edge. We (Aussies) play a certain style of cricket. Hard, but fair cricket,” he added.
“The Kiwis, they are the ones that play the goodie two shoes … but then they try to beat the s**t out of you,” said Allan Border.
Australia’s squad for the WTC final
The Australian team has reached England and is gearing up for the World Test Championship final against Team India. Pat Cummins will lead the 15-member squad in the mega-clash. They finished the WTC cycle at the top of the table, to qualify for the finals. In joyous news for them, Josh Hazlewood is likely to be available for the final.
Australia squad for WTC final: Pat Cummins (captain), David Warner, Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Josh Inglis, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland
Reserve players for Australia: Mitch Marsh, Matt Renshaw
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