Jones praises Zaheer, rates batting as 'substandard'

Former Australian cricketer Dean Jones said he was impressed by Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan in the first Test but found the visiting team's famed batting "substandard".

"I was in awe of the way Zaheer Khan bowled in this Test. He doesn't have super pace but knows how to set up a batsman by having the ability to swing the ball both ways," Jones said.

However, he did not like the way Indian batsmen played in the Test, which they lost by 122 runs while chasing 292.

"The Indian batsmen weren't much different and the quality of batsmanship in this Test was substandard considering there were so many great players," Jones said.

However, he was full of praise for Sachin Tendulkar and he felt that Australian batsmen could have learnt from the Indian batting great.

"I loved the six hit by Tendulkar with his first ball after lunch on day two. It was a shot saying, 'Don't bowl that stuff to me!' Watching the great Tendulkar bat with Dravid was a learning experience. Obviously our batsmen didn't watch

closely enough," he wrote in his column for The Age.

Jones also came hard on Australian batsmen.

"I cannot believe the lack of discipline and application shown by some of our batsmen. Their headwork and footwork is deplorable at times, and they seem to have no regard for their wicket. When batsmen are consistently making the same mistakes, it tells me that they are practising like that and it is bleeding into their game,"

Jones also suggested that the players should be kept away from wives and girlfriends during the matches.

"Maybe there are too many distractions during a home series and it may be time that we have a couple of Test matches where the team is away from wives and partners. The players need to find some quiet time and have a good think about their game," he wrote.