IND vs AUS 2020: Australia legend calls for Glenn Maxwell's 'unfair' switch-hits to be banned

Former Australia batsman Ian Chappell believes that switch-hitting is unfair to the bowler and the fielding team, and has called on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to ban them.

Glenn Maxwell has teed off in Australia's first two ODIs against India, and has hit a number of switch-hits. But Chappell says it's very annoying and blatantly unfair when batsmen become 'opposite-handed' as the bowler runs in to take advantage of the fielding conditions set by the captain of the bowling side.

"How can one side of the game, ie. the bowlers, they have to tell the umpire how they're going to bowl. And yet the batsman, he lines up as a right-hander - I'm the fielding captain, I place the field for the right-hander - and before the ball's been delivered, the batsman becomes a left-hander," Ian Chappell said.

"If he's good enough to do it by excellent footwork or whatever other means he can devise, I don't have a problem with it. But when it's blatantly unfair, it annoys the hell out of me," he added.

Maxwell has proved to be a nightmare for India in the first two ODIs with his unconventional stroke play. He scored 45 in the first ODI and followed it up with a score of 63 not out on Sunday helping Australia set up mammoth totals, which India have not been able to chase.

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ODI pitches are too flat: Ian Chappell

Australia v India - ODI Game 2

The former Australia captain also believes that pitches in one day cricket are too flat, and need to be spiced up to make it an even contest between the two teams.

Ian Chappell noted that if the team batting first makes a big score, it often ends up becoming a no contest.

"I've always thought that the pitches have been a little bit that way in one-day cricket, for a long time. The essence of the game, a good game of cricket is where there's a contest. When it becomes just purely an exercise in [batting] statistics, I don't enjoy it too much. If you want to make the pitches pretty flat, OK, T20, I'd maybe accept that. But outside of that, the best games of cricket are when the bowler's got a chance," Chappell said.

Australia have won the toss in each of the first two ODIs and scored over 370 runs in both encounters after electing to bat first. Despite their best efforts with the bat, India just haven't been able to come close to chasing down those scores yet.