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India exposed our B-team, so who should we send to the T20 World Cup?

Roar Rookie
31st January, 2016
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Australia have the talent in Twenty20 - but do they even want to do well at it? (Image: AFP)
Roar Rookie
31st January, 2016
93
1936 Reads

If India’s Twenty20 whitewash of Australia has proven one thing (other than that Virat Kohli is the best batsman in the world) it’s that there is a huge gulf in class between the Big Bash League and International Cricket.

AJ Tye, who has been so impressive closing out games for the Scorchers, was way out of his depth being crunched for 19 off the last over last night by Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina to lead India to a commanding 3-0 series win.

Cameron Bancroft was thrust into the keeping duties and missed a crucial stumping, while Scott Boland and Shaun Tait struggled for consistency, with the latter being taken for 24 runs off one over by Dhawan and Sharma.

Even the likes of Chris Lynn and Glenn Maxwell, who have been so dominant in the domestic T20 competitions around the world, were found out by the pressure cooker that is international cricket.

Coming into the match all the talk was about Usman Khawaja, who had finally been included in the T20 squad at the expense of the injured Aaron Finch.

Khawaja had obliterated BBL attacks left, right and centre, but on the international stage he was found out. Instead it was the much-maligned Shane Watson who dominated with both bat and ball, scoring 124* and also almost bowling Australia to victory.

This isn’t to say that Khawaja won’t succeed at International level, he has already proven it in Test Cricket and still should be picked for the T20 World Cup. To label him as ‘Australia’s great hope’, however, on the back of BBL form is unfair.

I am a massive fan of Bancroft and also of Tye and it was disappointing to see them get found out at this level however we have to acknowledge it was likely to happen considering how inexperienced they were and the quality of the opposition they were up against.

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Looking ahead to the T20 World Cup, we must play our best and most experienced players and go in with a settled line-up. We made five changes for each of our games, India kept the same side through all three matches. It is clear that having a settled line-up helps.

So with the T20 series against India behind us just who should be in our T20 World Cup Squad?

David Warner and Steve Smith are absolute certainties, Shane Watson has proven his value with both bat and ball and even though he hasn’t performed, Glenn Maxwell is still a very dangerous proposition.

Aaron Finch looks unlikely at this stage due to a hamstring injury, so Usman Khawaja does get a spot in the starting XI.

George Bailey was fantastic in the ODI series and has scored runs on the subcontinent and has plenty of experience and can also play the spinners very well.

Michael Klinger has been so consistent for so long and would follow the footsteps of Chris Rogers and Adam Voges and would be fine at the top level. He would be one of my reserve batsmen as he could plug any gap necessary.

The battle for the other reserve spot is out of Travis Head or Lynn. Lynn is exciting when he gets going and can destroy an attack, however he seems to struggle against spin more than Head does. Head also bowls handy offies.

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The wicketkeeper is an interesting one. Matthew Wade is very out of form at present and I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if he missed that stumping as well.

I do like Bancroft, but as we saw last night he is only a part time keeper.

Tim Paine performed well in the BBL and is a far better keeper than Wade is so he gets the nod.

The bowling is my big worry going into this World Cup. With the likes of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Jason Behrendorff all injured, and Mitch Johnson retired, our fast bowling stocks look ominously thin.

Mitch Marsh and James Faulkner fight it out for that eight spot. Faulkner has been woefully out of form with both bat and ball, meanwhile Marsh’s bowling has been very good in recent times. Marsh gets picked.

The trial of Boland and Tye hasn’t worked and Shaun Tait is well over the hill. John Hastings bowled well in the ODI series but got belted around in the only T20 he played but there really isn’t anyone else.

Considering how low our pace bowling stocks are and considering how well Watson is bowling, playing two frontline spinners seems like the best option. Cameron Boyce looks set to take one of those spots after bowling so well against India.

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Nathan Lyon has expressed a desire to play limited overs cricket but so far this summer has struggled to make the most of his opportunity while the likes of Ashton Agar and Steve O’Keefe will also come into consideration.

The thing in Lyon’s favour is that the other two both spin it the same way as Boyce, meanwhile Lyon spins it the other way.

So Australia’s best T20 World Cup squad will look something like this

Warner
Watson
Khawaja
Smith (c)
Bailey
Maxwell
Paine (wk)
M Marsh
Hastings
Boyce
Lyon

Res: Faulkner, Klinger, Head, Pattinson (if available, otherwise Richardson)

To be honest the batting looks very strong, however the bowling attack still looks very weak and will struggle to keep other sides to small totals. We will have a heavy reliance on our spinners and All Rounders as our pace bowling stocks are thin.

To be honest I don’t think Australia have much of a chance of winning this T20 World Cup, India look far too good. I think their biggest challengers will be New Zealand.

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So Roarers, who is in your T20 World Cup squad?

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