The Australian cricket team is all set to kickstart their title defence against New Zealand on Saturday, 22 October. Led by Aaron Finch, Australia are the prime favourites to win the World Cup in their home conditions. The side looks in a great form and now has explosive T20 atheletes in Tim David and latest inductee Cameron Green in their squad.
Meanwhile, ahead of Australia’s opening fixture, former head coach John Buchanan backed the Finch side to retain the title and has also named the match-winners for the side. John, who has three World Cup titles with the Australian cricket team said that Adam Zampa and Mitchell Starc can turn out to be influential in the World Cup campaign. Speaking to HindustanTimes.com, John Buchanan said:
“All the groups will be tough once the qualifying teams join the respective pools. I don’t think there’s an easy pool. So if you look through the Australian line I think it’s a pretty well balanced side. Again I think the home team will always have an advantage,”
Further, John said that while the team has number of match-winners, there is one player who could make the biggest difference. He said: “I do see the Australia team well balanced in terms of batsman, all-rounders, pace and spin bowlers, and they’ve got their keepers, who can do a good job both with the glove and with the bat. I think the two guys to watch out for will probably be, and taking nothing away from the others, Mitchell Starc with the ball. I think he’s a potential match winner.”
He added: “I think Tim David has been running very well. In that sort of middle order to close out the game as Matthew Wade. But I do think one of the key players for Australia will be Zampa. If he has a good tournament then Australia will have a very good tournament.”
In fact, John also highlisted a noteworthy point about the spinner, who finished as the second highest wicket-taker in the previous edition. He had then picked 13 wickets from seven matches, which also included a match-winning 5-wicket haul against Bangladesh. He said: “Someone like Zampa, even though they generally will prefer to bowl with protection, can be inserted into the powerplays. So I think that’s really the critical role for spinners that they have the ability to bowl at any stage through the tournament.
“I think Australia basically tried to insert Zampa around about the eighth or the ninth or the tenth over and bowl him four overs straight, because of the conditions that suited him over there in that tournament. But I think here in Australia, he has the ability to bowl inside the powerplay and then at different times through the tournament.”
