Was it murder or suicide? Angry Australian media asks team after Hyderabad Test

Launching a scathing attack on their cricket team for a spineless show in the second Test, the Australian media on Wednesday dubbed their players as "pale warriors", who did not have the stomach for fight and the legs to last the distance.

The media spared skipper Michael Clarke but enjoined him to move out of his comfort zone and take tough decision because he has no choice but to "pay for the sins of his fellow batsmen".

"Was it murder or suicide in Hyderabad on Tuesday?, screamed the headline of the 'Australian'.

"It was, without doubt, a crime scene and one that Australian cricket fans should not have had to witness. The saddest thing about on Tuesday's capitulation was that the Australians weren't mugged - this was an act of self-harm," the paper wrote.

The paper said that none of the batsmen except Clarke looked to take the fight into the Indian camp. (Note: Adjoining image for representational purpose)

"Suicide cults have displayed more resolve than the procession of batsmen who walked to the middle and volunteered to drink the cordial on Tuesday.

"..The captain owns the two highest scores of this series by an Australian (130 and 91) and posted both of them in the critical first innings when the running needed to be made.

"Unfortunately his pale warriors don't have the legs to go with their skipper. Some join him for a couple of kilometres here or there, but none can go the distance. Nor do any seem intent on forming a partnership without him." (Related read: We let each other down: Clarke)

The critical write-up added that if Clarke wept when Ricky Ponting left the team, he must have felt a "sense of dread when Michael Hussey followed at summer's end". (Also read: Dean Jones tells NDTV that Aus team may be missing Ponting, Hussey)