Steve Smith ignoring players' merit over mates: Rodney Hogg on Australia's poor show in India

New Delhi, Sep 27: Former Australia cricketer Rodney Hogg lashed out at current skipper Steve Smith for picking up his favourite cricketers in the team which is hurting the side in the ODI series against India.

Australia stooped to a new low as they are trailing 0-3 in the ongoing 5-ODI series. The visitors now face a monumental task of salvaging their pride by winning the remaining two games against a dominant Indian side.

Hogg, in an interview to news.com.au, felt Smith shouldn't be picking up his favourites and even questioned the selection committee.

Hogg feels the Australian side needs a serious selection shake-up, starting with redefining the captain's role in picking sides.

"They're picking their mates. Smith shouldn't be a selector," Hogg was quoted as saying. "(Ashton) Agar's been pushed through and Cartwright's still there. We saw (Nic) Maddinson get selected (he's) a mate, he's one of Steve Smith's mates. You can't pick bloody mates! We've got to get fair dinkum. We're really off the ball a bit here ... I think the captain's getting his own way," Hogg said.

Hogg also opined that the Australian selection panel and their decision-making process needs a serious review.

"All the way down, there's got to be a question mark. All the way across Cricket Australia," he said.

An inexperienced Hilton Cartwright opened the innings for Australia in the first two ODIs and failed on both the occasions. The regular opener Aaron Finch opened the innings for the Aussies in the third ODI and gave the visitors a perfect start and notched up the first century of the bilateral series.

Many felt that Smith should have asked Travis Head to open instead of Cartwright and he should have also been promoted up in the order.

Hogg also slammed the selection committee for ignoring in-form batsman Head. The 23-year-old Head has averaged 57.33 from three innings. He scored a brilliant century against Pakistan but has batted lower down the order so far.

The two teams will face each other on Thursday (September 28) in Bengaluru for the fourth ODI and Smith & Co. would be eyeing a redemption with a win.