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Acting Test captain Steve Smith says he was "shocked" by Matthew Hayden's description of Peter Handscomb's batting in India as "un-Australian".
Steve Smith has called out Australia legend Matthew Hayden for criticising Peter Handscomb's batting as "un-Australian".
The acting captain took exception to Hayden's comments about Handscomb during Australia's memorable nine-wicket win against India in Indore last week.
Hayden, arguably Australia's greatest Test opener, was confused by Handscomb's knock during the first innings as the Victorian scored a defiant 19 from 98 balls.
"(Handscomb's) strike rate of under 20 means that you are not going anywhere, and the scoreboard is not going anywhere, and that's a product of some really tough batting conditions ... he was sort of like a sitting duck in many ways," Hayden said in commentary.
"It's almost un-Australian. I don't want anyone out there to think that I'm overly criticising Pete, I'm not.
"It's just not quite attacking enough. It's such a tricky balance."
Smith was asked about Handscomb during his press conference ahead of the fourth Test in Ahmedabad, saying the 31-year-old had enjoyed an "outstanding" series.
"The first two Test matches (31 and 72 not out) in the first innings of both and left pretty much stranded," Smith said on Wednesday.
"I was pretty disappointed to see some of the comments last Test match around him not playing the Australian way.
"He's batted the same in the first innings throughout the whole series.
"His method has proved it's worked in difficult conditions.
"So I was shocked to see some comments about the way he was playing, because I think him and 'Uzzy' (Usman Khawaja) have probably been arguably our two best batters in this series."
Hayden had been unhappy with the current Australia team players immediately following his best friend Justin Langer's messy exit as coach.
In an interview last month, Hayden said he had moved on and vowed to help Australian players out if they required any advice on how to bat in India.
Hayden's legendary Test career took off when he smashed 549 runs at an average of 109.80 during Australia's famous tour of India in 2001.
