Ashes 2025-26: Former Indian coach lambasts batters after MCG debacle, warns Test cricket is doomed

Former India head coach Greg Chappell urged the modern-day batters to show more grit and detemination to play long innings in challenging conditions after the fourth Ashes Test ended in two days at the Melbourne Cricket Ground last week. It was the second Test match in the ongoing series which finished inside two days.

While the conditions were tough for batting, Chappell pointed out the lack of application on display from batters on both sides. The former Australia cricketer opined that the batters have disappointed not just the fans but their predecessors who poured their hearts and souls into this iconic rivalry.

“Two Tests in the series have failed to reach day three, not due to superior skill but a glaring absence of desire. Batters slashed wildly, abandoning technique for bravado, as if playing their “natural game” excused capitulation,” Chappell was quoted as saying by India Today.

“They let down predecessors who bled for this rivalry; they shortchanged fans who braved the holiday heat; they betrayed their own generation by forsaking cricket’s core tenets – playing each ball on merit, scrapping for every run, enduring bruises for the greater good,” he added.

Chappell expressed his doubts about the future of the red-ball format. He said that batters should be able to bat a minimum of 100 overs irrespective of the conditions a game is being played in.

“I get that white-ball cricket has changed the game and power is valued more in the marketplace today than the ability to absorb pressure, but if the modern player does value Test cricket, as they say, then they must show it by being able to bat collectively for a minimum of 100 overs in any conditions. If they can’t, or won’t, do that, then the format is doomed,” he wrote.

England finally ended their losing streak Down Under. After losing the first three Tests, the Three Lions picked up a consolation win in the Boxing Day Test. The series finale is set to be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, starting on Sunday, January 4.

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