"How can you make such a big mistake?" - Gautam Gambhir criticizes Australia for having only one frontline spinner in their World Cup 2023 squad

Gautam Gambhir has criticized Australia for not replacing Ashton Agar, who was ruled out due to an injury, with another spinner in their World Cup 2023 squad.

The Aussies picked Agar as a second spinner in their preliminary World Cup squad but he was replaced by Marnus Labuschagne in their final side. Pat Cummins and Co. have been found wanting in their first two games of the tournament, suffering massive defeats against India and South Africa.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Gambhir was asked whether the Australian pacers would have to do more heavy lifting going forward as they play with the three-seamer formula, to which he responded:

"It is not a formula, it is the biggest mistake in this tournament. When Ashton Agar was ruled out of the tournament, they should have called a spinner. How can you make such a big mistake?"

The former Indian opener opined that Nathan Lyon, Tanveer Sangha, or any other spinner should have been Agar's replacement. He elaborated:

"You are playing the World Cup in the subcontinent where you have to play nine matches and despite that your squad has just one spinner. Nathan Lyon is there, you could have played Tanveer Sangha or there might be some other spinners in Australia. You could have called someone."

Australia have also been hit hard by Travis Head's unavailability for the first few matches of World Cup 2023 as he could have given them some overs of spin. His absence probably forced the Aussie selectors to include Labuschagne in the squad to have enough batters in the mix before he becomes available.

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"There is no team in this World Cup apart from Australia who have gone with just one frontline spinner" - Gautam Gambhir

Glenn Maxwell was Australia's most impressive bowler against South Africa. [P/C: AP]

Gautam Gambhir pointed out that a second specialist spinner would have proved handy against South Africa, considering a part-time one like Glenn Maxwell was also proving difficult to score against. He observed:

"If Maxwell, who bowled well, is your second spinner, imagine if you had another top-quality spinner on such a wicket, then probably this total would have been much less. There is no team in this World Cup apart from Australia who have gone with just one frontline spinner."

Gambhir concluded by highlighting that Australia have too many all-rounders and lack variety in their bowling. He elaborated:

"So you don't need to do the heavy lifting, you need to improve your thinking. A squad that has Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green, and along with that Sean Abbott - you didn't need so many all-rounders. You have made an extremely one-dimensional attack."

Maxwell picked up two wickets and conceded just 34 runs in his 10 overs. Adam Zampa, although he gave away 70 runs, was the only other Australian bowler to complete his full quota on the Lucknow track that assisted the spinners.