Australia captain Steve Smith has accused his batsmen of ‘panicking’ under pressure and demanded they show more starch after another collapse against India saw the side thrashed by 50 runs in the second one-day international in Kolkata.
India set Australia 252 to chase at Eden Gardens and defended it with ease on Thursday as the tourists lost openers David Warner and Hilton Cartwright for one run apiece and crumbled with a hat-trick to left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
The world champions trail the hosts 2-0 in the five-match series and have now notched up their 10th ODI loss in succession on foreign pitches. Clearly fed up, Smith, who scored 59, said his batsmen were making ‘silly errors’ and had to change their approach
“It’s happening a bit too often for my liking, to be honest with you, in all forms of cricket,” Smith told reporters. “We’ve had a lot of collapses and we need to stop. The guys have trained really well and it’s now about getting out in the middle and executing your skills when you’re under pressure and not panicking. I think we panicked last game a little bit and in this game, we just couldn’t get the partnerships. We’re making silly errors when we’re under pressure.”
Australia’s last five batsmen managed a total of 10 runs between them in Kolkata, while the top order rarely looked comfortable playing the spin of Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal. “It’s easy to just sit here and say ‘it needs to stop’, but when you get out in the middle you have to change what you’re doing because it’s not working,” added Smith, whose 100th ODI was spoilt by the result.
“Watching the ball closer or maybe the guys are trying to watch it too closely and forgetting about just playing the game. It’s a hard one to put my finger on. But whatever it is, it needs to change and we need to make better decisions when we’re under pressure and start playing the game properly.”
Marcus Stoinis was unbeaten on 62 from 65 balls in a rare bright spot for the tourists and Smith said he had given his teammates the blueprint for how to handle the conditions and the Indian bowlers. “He didn’t panic, he was calm and he played good cricket shots,” Smith said. “He was nice and positive with his intent. We just needed someone else in the top four to go on and make a score.”
The skipper said a lot of the blame fell on himself and Travis Head (39) after they had shared a 76-run stand following the loss of two early wickets to put the tourists on track for a series-levelling victory.
“It was upon one of (the top four) to go on and make a big score and be there at the end, Heady and I were the two who got in and we weren’t able to do so, so a lot of the blame falls on us. We got a good little partnership together there ... if you turn that 70 into 140, the game’s closed. We just weren’t able to do it,” Smith said.  The third ODI is in Indore on Sunday.

Ausssie fast bowler Cummins to miss India T20 series
Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins will miss the three-match Twenty20 series against India to keep him fresh for the Ashes against England later this year, Cricket Australia said yesterday.
After more than five years of injury setbacks preventing his talent from blooming, the 24-year-old made an inspiring return to the test arena against India earlier this year. He has since been a regular in the 50-over format and is expected to be part of Australia’s pace attack in the Ashes and will therefore return home from India after the remaining three ODIs in the five-match series.
“Pat has played a considerable amount of cricket this year after a long period away from the game due to injury,” national selector Trevor Hohns said. “His body has handled the return to international cricket well, but we believe the best plan for him ahead of the Ashes series is to return home to refresh, both physically and mentally before he prepares for Sheffield Shield cricket.”
The replacement for Cummins in the T20 squad will be announced later, CA added.