Under the captaincy of Aaron Finch, the 5-time World Champions Australia will look to defend their title that they won in 2015 held in Australia and New Zealand. After the ban of Steve Smith and David Warner, Australia had a miserable run in cricket. In terms of ODIs, they were whitewashed by England 0-5, lost to South Africa 1-2.
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In Jan 2019, they lost to India by 1-2 which further dented their confidence. After almost a year of their absence, Australians finally found some rhythm and won a series in India in March 2019. The team has been on a high since then. They followed it up by a whitewashing Pakistan in UAE.
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With the return of star players, the Australian team looks stronger and could have a great chance to defend their title. They play their opening match against Afghanistan on 1st June 2019.
Here we look at the 5 Key players to watch out for Australia in World Cup 2019
1. David Warner
(Photo by Deepak Malik / BCCI / SPORTZPICS)
The explosive left-handed batsman, David Warner after missing 1 year of international cricket for Australia will be returning to the squad for World Cup 2019. This year in the IPL, Warner scored 692 runs from 12 matches which included 9 fifty plus scores along with a hundred. His contribution helped Sunrisers Hyderabad reach the playoffs.
With Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja in brilliant form, Warner”s batting position is undecided.
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David Warner made his ODI debut for Australia against England in 2009. He has played 106 ODI matches (104 innings) and scored 4343 runs with an average of 43.43, with 14 centuries and 17-half centuries.
In the 2015 World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand, Warner was one of the key players for Australia with 345 runs from 8 matches (8 innings) with the best score of 178!
He is one of the key players for Australia in this year’s World Cup. With flat pitches helping the batsmen, Warner can destroy the opposition on his day.
2. Steve Smith
Steve Smith the former Aussie skipper was also serving a ban for last one year. In IPL 2019, he played for Rajasthan Royals and scored 319 runs from 12 matches with 3 half-centuries to his name, the best score of 73*.
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In World Cup warm-up game against New Zealand, Smith scored 89 but could not help Australia to win the match. Without Smith, Australia struggled in 2018.
Steve Smith made his ODI debut for Australia against West Indies in 2010. He has played so far 108 ODIs (94 innings) and scored 3431 runs with 8 centuries and 19-half centuries.
In the 2015 World Cup, Smith played with confidence and scored 402 runs from 8 matches (7 innings) with the best score of 102. In the batting department, Smith will be key for Australia’s fortune in the upcoming World Cup to be held in England and Australia.
3. Glenn Maxwell
Glenn Maxwell is an explosive all-rounder who can change the course of the game with his explosive batting. In the recently ODI series played against Pakistan in UAE, Maxwell scored 258 runs from 5 matches (4 innings) with 3 half-centuries to his name. His best score in the ODI series was 98.
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His ability to put consistent pressure on the opposition bowlers makes him a dangerous batsman. Coming lower down the order, Maxwell can create serious damage and help Australia post big totals.
He made his ODI debut for Australia against Afghanistan in 2012. Since his debut, Maxwell has scored 2700 runs from 100 matches (90 innings) with the best score of 102. He is a part-time bowler who can bowl few overs in the middle.
With the bowl, he has taken 50 wickets from 100 matches (78 innings) with an economy of 5.56 runs per over with 2 four wickets haul.
In the 2015 World Cup, Glenn Maxwell scored 324 runs from 8 matches (6 innings) with the best score of 102. With the ball, he took 6 wickets from 8 matches (8 innings) with an economy of 5.73 runs per over.
He will play a crucial role for Australia in World Cup 2019 with both bat and ball.
4. Pat Cummins
Pat Cummins has performed brilliantly for Australia in the ODI success against India and Pakistan. In the Australia tour of India 2019, Cummins picked 14 wickets from 5 matches and led Australia to a 3-2 series win over Men in Blue in their own den. He finished as the leading run-getter in ODI series against India. He can contribute with the bat lower down the order.
In the One-day international series against Pakistan in UAE, Cummins featured in one match and took 3 wickets. Cummins has been simply brilliant for Australia in the last few months.
He made his ODI debut for Australia in 2011 against South Africa. He has taken so far 82 wickets from 48 matches (48 innings) with best figures of 5/70 against India coming in 2019. Cummins will play an important role for Australia in World Cup taking early wickets and put the opposition under pressure.
5. Adam Zampa
Adam Zampa is one of the best spinners in that Aussie squad. He played a key role in Australia”s ODI success against India and Pakistan.
Against Pakistan, Adam Zampa was the second highest wicket-taker in the series with 7 wickets from 5 matches with an economy of 5.36. He also did a great job against India in India where he took 11 wickets from 5 matches (5 innings) with an economy of 5.68.
Zampa made his ODI debut for Australia against New Zealand in 2016. He has taken 60 wickets from 44 matches ( 44 innings) with an economy of 5.59 in his career till now.
Adam Zampa will play a key role for Australia at the CWC19. Zampa is the sole wrist spinner in the squad hence his impact would be huge on the team.