The defending champions Australia haven’t begun their title defense in the best possible manner. They lost their opening encounter against neighbours, New Zealand. The Kiwis defeated them by 89 runs which has had a significant impact on the host’s net run rate.
Although they bounced back against Sri Lanka, the defeat will add extra pressure on them given how fine the margins are in this format. In the previous edition of the world cup, it was seen how South Africa missed out on qualification due to Net Run Rate. Australia will have to win their remaining matches by significant margins if they want to make it to the last four.
Two of Australia’s world cup winning players, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist have given their advice to the Aussie team. In the 1999 world cup, Australia was in a similar position as they had lost 2 of their 3 games yet managed to win the trophy.
In an interview with the ICC, they shared their views on Australia’s campaign. Adam Gilchrist said, “It’s not the ideal situation the Australians find themselves in, a lot to think about, a lot to ponder on that opening performance, and it’s win at all costs to stay alive.”
Next up: A massive clash against the old rivals at the MCG!
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“Honesty, I guess that’s the key thing, making sure if there is any little off-field issues, of which there are a few now for the Australians, they’ve got a bit to identify and work out, and maybe it’s not affecting them at all, but they just need to make sure they have clear heads as they lead into this next game,” he further added.
“It will be a tactic” – Ricky Ponting advices Australian bowlers to use bouncers
Former World Cup winning skipper Ricky Ponting reckoned that the Australian bowlers will use bouncers a lot in their upcoming games.
“It’ll be a tactic I think for the Australians right through this tournament with (Mitchell) Starc, (Pat) Cummins, (Josh) Hazlewood, (Marcus) Stoinis, and even (Mitchell) Marsh, and if (Cameron) Green plays, I reckon you’ll see all those guys use pretty much their quota of short balls right the way through,” Ponting added.
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