Oz coach finds his players scared

Chandigarh : When was the last time you heard Australia being scared of the opposition? It has generally been the other way round. However, a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of India in the just-concluded ODI series seems to have struck fear in the Australian hearts. And the admission came from none other than Australia’s stand-in head coach David Saker, who feels the team was “playing a little bit scared”.
While denying it was the personal form of the players that was responsible for the recent debacle, Saker attributed the loss to the lack of confidence in the team after they lost 12 of the last 13 ODI matches outside Australia in the past few months.
“It’s not mainly personnel, I think it’s mainly just their mindset and where they are in their games,” Saker told Cricket Australia website ahead of their first T20 in Ranchi on Saturday. “A lot of them are playing a little bit scared, which we try not to do. We try and make sure they play with a lot of freedom and express themselves as much as they can. But when you’re losing, you play scared, and you go insular,” he said.  “I think there’s little bits of that. It’s not dramatic and we know we can fix that. I think the talent is there,” Saker added. The coach, though, conceded that a wider review in ODIs was needed if they wanted to defend their World Cup crown. “Obviously, our away form has been quite dreadful, so we have to have a look at that,” he said. “The next World Cup is away (from home). I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom. I think there’s some talent in that team. But there’s no doubt we have to probably re-jig a few things and see where we’re.” He, meanwhile, remained optimistic about their chances in the three-match T20 rubber, saying: “Bringing almost half the squad in who haven’t been here for the four weeks so far is going to be exciting.”