ICC T20: Australia squad profile

Australia may have won the 50 overs world cup five times, but they never won a single trophy in the T20 format.

It is strange because no one has dominated cricket as much as Australia.

They also dominated test cricket more than any other side.

Currently, Australia is at 7th position in the ICC T20 ranking. 

So far Australia has played two warm-up games in which their performance was not much convincing.

They won their first game against New Zealand but lost the 2nd one against India.

Continuity is the key to success and if Australia can’t maintain it, it can go against them.

Most of the Australian players took a long break from cricket due to Covid and did not take part in the recent series against West Indies and Bangladesh.

It was not easy for players as the IPL was going on.

It will be interesting to see what strategy Australia will adopt to dominate the other teams in this World Cup.

Strengths

Glenn Maxwell could be the trump card for Australia in this World Cup as he has a reputation for changing the fate of the game at any moment.

His IPL stats for 2021 tell the story of his current form.

Maxwell scored 513 runs in 15 matches at an average of 42 and had a strike rate of above 140.

The pace trio of experienced Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood makes Australia’s bowling line-up better than any other team in the tournament.

Mitchell Marsh could also be an asset for the team because he can make the middle order well balanced along with Marcus Stoinis.

Marsh has scored 442 runs in 15 games averaging 31.6 this year so far.

Mitchel Starc’s pace could do the trick on the UAE surface as it favors pacers.

He has the capability to swing the ball inside and outside, and his deadly yorkers could damage any batting lineup.

Weakness 

Australia will be worried about the form of their star player David Warner.

He lost the captaincy in this IPL due to his poor form.

He was able to score only 195 runs in 8 matches at an average of 24.37. 

Warner, Finch, Maxwell and Starc are legends in this format.

If they can step and own the tournament, Australia could create history.

The T20 World Cup is the only major white-ball contest absent in their trophy cabinet.

Who will open with Finch would be a matter of concern for Australia because Warner is not in good touch.

Australia has the option of Josh Inglish who has 783 runs at a 43.5 strike rate in T20 matches so far.

It will be interesting to see how Australia team management accommodates their star player in top order.

Australia squad

Aaron Finch (c), Pat Cummins, Matthew Wade (wk), Josh Inglis (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Ashton Agar.

Reserves: Dan Christian, Nathan Ellis, Daniel Sams.