Former Australian skipper Ian Chappell has slammed his country's selectors after the failure of the Australian batting line-up during their six-wicket defeat against India in their World T20 clash at Punjab Cricket Stadium in Mohali on Sunday.
Australia failed to counter India's bowling attack for long as they were restricted to 160 for six within their stipulated 20 overs despite a thunderous start given by openers Aaron Finch (43) and Usman Khwaja (26).
The 72-year-old pointed out that the selector's decision to move David Warner up and down in the batting line-up was a major reason behind Australia's early exit from the T20 format's pinnacle event,news.com.au reported.
Earlier, Australian selectors had also dropped Finch for the opening matches of the tournament at the expense of Khawaja while retiring Shane Watson was also moved from the top of the order down to No.7 spot.
Describing Warner as a 'match-winner', Chappell insisted that the former was more capable of frightening the oppositions as compared to Khawaja.
Chappell further believes that moving Warner down in the order had messed his performance, saying that he was not able to perform at his absolute best.
Also Read
Earlier, Kohli continued to reprise his role as Australia's tormentor-in-chief as he smacked nine fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 82-run knock off just 51 balls as India chased down the massive target of 161 runs with five balls remaining.
With the win, India have set up a semifinal showdown against West Indies which will be played on Thursday at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.