Jones believes the result would have been a lot different if Australia had Ponting and Hussey

Former Australia batsman Dean Jones believes the retirement of veteran batting duo Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey has really hurt the national team after they were subjected to a humiliating 4-0 whitewash at the hands of India.

Jones was livid that Australia had lost all four Tests and noted that other batsmen besides captain Michael Clarke have to step up.

“The absence of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey is very evident in the middle order,” Jones told NDTV. Michael Clarke looked listless on where to bat himself. He may have decided to now go up the order to number four. Hussey is a great player and sadly we don’t have great Test batsmen like him anymore to help Clarke in the batting department.”

Australia’s top order struggled throughout the series, while the middle order did not cope much better either.

It almost seemed as if the Australian bowlers were the opening batsmen, as they seemed to be more comfortable at the crease than openers David Warner and Ed Cowan.

“They have got some average Test players in their ranks who need more time to prepare,” Jones said. “Someone like Sunil Gavaskar, who has experience of more than 100 Tests, can get acclimatized to foreign conditions in much lesser time than these players. But when you have players of inexperience of playing on pitches that turn like this, they should be given more time to cope with the conditions and learn. We are not backing away from anything as Indians have been way too good on the field here. We smashed India at home Down Under and now we’re getting it back.”

Jones noted that Australia should have paid closer attention to the four-Test series between England and India last year, in which the English emerged victorious and ended a 28-year losing streak in the subcontinent country.

“They have not prepared properly for this iconic and big tour,” Jones said. “The Australians played a one-day series against West Indies  leading straight into here and the players haven’t adjusted to these conditions. Nor have they got a mental or tactical plan on how to tackle great spinners like Ashwin and co, so they deserve what they get.”

Jones added that Australia’s defeat had been extremely humiliating since it came right before the first leg of the Ashes series, which is set to be hosted in England in July.

“We Australians famously proud ourselves on the Baggy Green cap,” Jones said. “It’s got a Kangaroo and an Emu. These are two native animals of Australia, you cannot find them anywhere else in the world. And the great thing about those two animals is that they can’t walk backwards. Well, today sadly they did. And they (the players) will have to regroup themselves. It’s got to be between the ears.”