"Pretty much blaming Alex Carey for our performance against India" - Michael Clarke questions Australia's tactics in dismal loss to South Africa

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke questioned the side's kneejerk reaction of dropping wicket-keeper batter Alex Carey for their second 2023 World Cup game against South Africa.

Following a crushing defeat to hosts India in their opening game, where Carey scored a first-ball duck, the 32-year-old was replaced by Josh Inglis. The move made little difference as Australia suffered another thrashing at the hands of the Proteas by 134 runs in Lucknow.

Inglis scored only five runs during Australia's run chase and struggled with the gloves.

Speaking on Sky Sports Radio's Big Sports Breakfast, Clarke felt dropping Carey indicated the wicketkeeper-batter being made the scapegoat for Australia's defeat to India.

"You can’t look at the first game against India and go. ‘OK, Alex Carey is the problem. Drop him’. That’s the other thing I think that frustrated me when I saw that line-up. I thought, hang on, you’re pretty much blaming Alex Carey for our performance against India," said Clarke.

Clarke was also unimpressed by Inglis' glovework and questioned Australia's selection tactics moving forward, regarding Alex Carey.

"I don’t know what positives we can take out of that game. I don’t think selections were right? I’m unsure how you can take Alex Carey to India in the World Cup squad, give him one game and then drop him. No disrespect to Josh Inglis, I don’t know him at all and I’ve heard from a lot of people that he’s very talented and there’s something about him, but unfortunately last night he didn’t have a great night with the gloves," stated Clarke.

"He dropped some balls early... he didn’t look... I’ve got to be careful how I say this because I don’t know him and it’s not just about him. I just think Alex Carey is a better keeper. And I think we saw that in the first 10 overs of the game. I don’t know how they drop Alex Carey after one game, like what’s the point of taking him? And now what do you do? You reinstate him? You bring him back?," he added.

Inglis has played nine ODIs in his international career, including two games in the recent series against India. However, his numbers are shockingly poor, with an average of 16.44 and the lone half-century against South Africa last month.

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"Feel like I’m wasting my breath" - Michael Clarke critical of Pat Cummins' captaincy

Cummins made several questionable decisions against South Africa.

Michael Clarke questioned skipper Pat Cummins for not bowling himself as much in the first ten overs and setting defensive fields instead of focussing on taking wickets during the South Africa clash.

The 30-year-old brought himself on after Glenn Maxwell in the eighth over, with South Africa already racing away to 38/0.

"I feel like I’m wasting my breath. The easiest way to slow scoring is to take wickets yet we continue in Twenty20 cricket and one-day cricket, try to prevent runs. How is Pat Cummins not bowling in the first 10 overs? Or even if you’re going Glenn Maxwell, like we did, you’ve got to have a slip to the left hander? You’ve probably got to have a bat-pad to the right hander, like you’ve got to look to take wickets early," said Clarke.

While backing Pat Cummins as the captain, Clarke admitted that the skipper got his tactics wrong, from bowling first to his field placements against South Africa.

"I fought harder than anyone for Pat Cummins to be Australian captain and I still stand here and say I think he’s the right man for the job but tactically last night I think he got it wrong again. He won the toss and bowled, I think he ball chased and I don’t think he was aggressive enough. I don’t think he looked to take wickets," stated Clarke.

"I love him and I’m more than happy for him to be captain but he’s got to do some work on that. He hasn’t captained much one-day cricket at all. So that’s why the lead-in, the games against South Africa, the games against India, in my opinion, I know he was injured, but he still should have been there doing stuff tactically," concluded Clarke.

Cummins has played only two ODIs this year in the series against India and has struggled with the ball, with only three wickets in his four games.

It was also a fourth straight crushing defeat in ODIs at the hands of the Proteas for the Men in Yellow, leaving them in a spot of bother with two losses in as many outings in the 2023 World Cup.

They will look to get their campaign back on track in their next outing against Sri Lanka in Lucknow on Monday, October 16.