T20 World Cup 2022 | Australia will be a formidable late-order striking team, claims Ricky Ponting

09/01/2022

Australia have recently announced the team for T20 World Cup and Ricky Ponting has praised the selection saying the team will be a formidable late-order striking unit. He also backed Tim David’s inclusion saying he can hit the ball as hard as anyone in the world and can bowl off-spin if required.

With T20 World Cup set to be played in Australia later this year the host country have announced their team for the tournament. The team will be led by Aaron Finch and Pat Cummins will be his deputy. The team will look forward to add a second T20 World Cup title to their trophy cabinet and the inclusion of Tim David is the special feature of the selection. The batting unit will be handled by likes of Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, and Steve Smith while Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson and Josh Hazlewood will be in the pace department.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has opined that they will be a formidable late-order striking unit in T20 World Cup.

“If you ended up with, let's say, Maxwell, Stoinis, Wade, and David in that middle order there is a really formidable late-order striking team that no bowling team would want to play against,” he said.

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David is one of the best finishers in world cricket at the moment and has displayed that in franchise cricket very often. His striking abilities has made him a valuable asset in league cricket for teams. Also, in the IPL 2022, David provided some clinical finishes for Mumbai Indians and Ponting has praised his ability to strike the ball.

“He's probably 6’2, maybe touching 100 kilograms a big, strong guy that can hit the ball as clean and as hard as anyone in the world. He’s a good fielder and can bowl some part-time off-spin as well, if required." he opined.

It is speculated that Tim David’s inclusion might mean that Steve Smith has to stay on the sidelines. The middle order is packed with multiple choices available and so it will be interesting to see how Australia fits their team combination. Ponting is of the opinion that Smith might be kept in the team in spite of David’s inclusion.

“They like to attack in a number three position (Mitch Marsh) and then if that doesn't work, then that's where Smith has been used in the middle to pick up the pieces after a couple of early wickets,” he explained.

“It's not an easy role to play. I think in the modern T20 game, no one wants to be playing that role, because it becomes the most difficult role in the game. If you're two down early, especially in the Powerplay, we know what the stats say; if you then lose three wickets in the Powerplay you lose about 94-95% of games. So the No.4 slot becomes the difficult one,” Ponting explained.

David will be touring India for a T20I series in lead up to the World Cup.