Australia’s status in any global event is nothing but favourites but they could hardly do any justice to this tag in the ICC World Twenty20s.
The only trophy missing in Cricket Australia’s cabinet is the ICC World T20, where their success is limited to reaching the final in 2010. Naturally the Australians are expected to be desperate to win the ICC World T20 Bangladesh 2014 more than any other team.
But skipper George Bailey was carefully guarded talking about the desperation Tuesday, saying they are just as keen as any other side to win the tournament.
‘We’re certainly very keen to win it [T20 WC] and given Australia’s history at the World [T20], we would certainly like to rectify it in terms of winning it,’ Bailey said in the team’s arrival press conference.
‘But we are no more desperate than any side who are here. Yeah, we would like to win it.
‘Like any World Cup, it’s really challenging and you need to play your best cricket over the two weeks, and it basically becomes knock-out, so it’s challenging.
‘But as far as desperateness or how much we want to win it, I think we got the motivation,’ said Bailey.
Australia came into this tournament with five consecutive wins against England and South Africa backing their credentials.
This is a rare feat for any side in this format, which underlined their tag as favourites once more.
Bailey is targeting this consistency, which he said was the hardest thing to maintain in the T20 format.
‘[The target] is just to play consistently, close to our best,’ said Bailey. ‘I think that’s what all the teams want. The hardest thing about T20 cricket is consistency.
‘If you look at the series between countries throughout the year, a lot of them are drawn. Sides tend to win one, and lose the next one. It’s hard to gain momentum.’
Bailey is happy with the squad that he has been given, which he said is nicely balanced in terms of batting and bowling.
‘I don’t know if it’s our best team [in World T20s], but I’m certainly very happy with it,’ said the Australian captain.
‘I’m comfortable with the balance and I think that is very important. As far as balance goes, I think this team gives us the most options in batting and bowling.
‘Whether this is the best team, I think we will find out in the next two weeks,’ he said.
Australia’s one problem could be the condition, which is more suitable for some other title contenders like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. But Bailey said this will not be a major hindrance as they have enough experience playing in the sub-continent.
‘I would imagine so [Asian countries are a bit ahead in these conditions] and that’s not selling the western countries short,’ said Bailey. ‘That’s the nature of it. I think New Zealand and Australia would be favourites for the 50-over World Cup coming up.
‘Playing at your own conditions, there is a comfort and a knowledge that might take other teams a little bit of time to adjust to.
‘Having said that teams and guys have played a lot in India, I don’t think conditions will be too much different from that,’ he said.
Australia will be without their pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson, who has been ruled out with a toe injury. Bailey acknowledged that they will miss Johnson but added that they have
enough firepower in the pace department to make up for the loss.
‘We’ll miss Mitch [Johnson], no doubt about that. Looking at his form over the last six months, he has been absolutely unbelievable for us,’ said Bailey before adding, ‘Last time he was at the sub-continent, in the one-day series against India, he was good there too. So no doubt we will miss him.
‘But having said that I think having Doug Bollinger as his replacement, we are lucky with the back-up. In Twenty20, he has got some form and pedigree behind him, and he’s got good pace and swings the ball. So I think he will be handy.’
-With New Age input
