Brisbane: Host Australia (Australia vs New Zealand) will go to play the T20 World Cup this time as the defending champions and the biggest challenge in front of them will be to save the title on their soil. Australia was to host this tournament in 2020 but due to the Kovid-19 pandemic, the International Cricket Council (ICC) postponed it and later confirmed that Australia would host the tournament in 2022.
India was supposed to host the T20 World Cup in 2021 but it was eventually hosted in the United Arab Emirates and Oman and Australia, who dominated the 50-over World Cup, became world champions in the shortest format of the game for the first time.
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Australia defeated New Zealand in last year’s final on November 14 and will become champions for the second time in a year if they win the final in Melbourne on November 13 this year. Not only this, it will also be the first country to win two consecutive titles.
Australia’s team is a strong contender for the title. His team also includes some budding players including Singapore-born all-rounder Tim David. David played 14 T20 matches for Singapore from 2019 to 2020. He was born in Singapore but moved to West Australia with his family when he was two years old.
Opener David Warner, last year’s competition star Mitchell Marsh and pacer Josh Hazlewood are among the players who played in the T20 World Cup last year as well. Australia’s concern will be about the form of captain Aaron Finch. He played at various numbers in the top-order in the series against West Indies but is likely to open the innings with Warner in the World Cup. This could be his last tournament for Australia. He has already stepped down as the captain of Australia’s ODI team.
In the last few matches, all-rounder Cameron Green has opened the innings but he has been kept in the stand-by players for the World Cup and will only make a place in the team if a player is injured. In the World Cup, Australia are placed in Group I along with Afghanistan, England, New Zealand and two qualifiers. The defending champions will play their first match against New Zealand in Sydney, a repeat of last year’s final. Three days later, on 25 October, he will take on the winner of Group A in Perth.
They will face arch-rivals England in Melbourne on October 28, while they will take on the runners-up of Group B on October 31. He will play his last match of the preliminary stage against Afghanistan in Adelaide on November 4. Australia squad: Arron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa. (agency)