Coach Justin Langer has publicly questioned South African captain Faf du Plessis’ suggestion that Australia were ‘tame’ during the recent limited-overs series in Adelaide and surrounds.

The South Africans won the three-ODI series two-one, and the one-off Twenty20 International.

Australia played without former captain Steven Smith and vice-captain David Warner, who are serving bans after being found guilty of ball-tampering earlier this year. Du Plessis noted that the Australians seemed ‘genuinely hurt’ by Smith and Warner’s absence.

‘I’m not sure where the “tame” came from. We played really well in the second game. We batted poorly in the first game. In the third game we played brilliantly for the first 35 overs with the ball and they got away from us,’ said Langer.

‘If you saw Marcus Stoinis’ reaction in Adelaide, I wouldn’t say that was tame. That was passionate.

‘I’m not sure what people want from us. We can’t confuse the messages. On the one hand we’re too aggressive and probably stepped over the line. Now we’re getting called tame.’

Australia are currently involved in a T20I series against India. They will also play four Tests and three ODIs.

‘You saw the way the guys are going about their business in the opening T20 win over India. We’re going to play good, hard cricket,’ added Langer.

‘It’s what the fans want to see. It’s what Australia wants to see. When you lose a series it’s easy for someone to come out and say we’ve been a bit tame. You can’t have it both ways.’

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