Smith blames poor decisions for India defeat

Poor decision making has been pin-pointed as the cause for Australia’s slump in form in the one-day international (ODI) form of the game.

That is the view of the side’s captain Steve Smith following their 4-1 loss to India in the ODI series, which concluded on Sunday in Nagpur.

The defeat, by seven wickets, was Australia’s 12th loss in their last 15 ODIs away from home – a worrying loss of form for the team just two months ahead of a home Ashes series against England, and has seen them fall one place to No 3 in the ODI rankings.

“We’re just not taking our words out in the middle and doing it with actions. We have glimpses of it and we play well in periods and then we just get ourselves in trouble,” Smith told reporters.

“Probably from poor decision making under pressure, that’s what I probably put it down to. That’s something that we need to improve on because it’s not good enough.”

Smith’s own form with the bat was not up to his usual high standards in the five matches, scoring 142 runs with two half-centuries. David Warner and Aaron Finch were the only batsmen to make centuries.

“As the leader of the team it’s been disappointing but I guess sometimes that’s cricket,” he said. “It’s something hopefully I can turn around and hopefully contribute in the T20s.”

A three-match series of Twenty20 internationals between the sides begins on Saturday in Ranchi.