T20 World Cup | Once formidable, Australia struggle to stay relevant in their weakest format
T20 International cricket is not really Australia’s cup of tea. Statistically, it is their weakest format of the game, coming into the tournament at #7 in the ICC rankings. In the ODIs as well as in the Test format, Australia hold onto the third position among the top teams in the world.
How are Australia so lowly ranked in the format, you ask? Well, the short answer is that Australia have lost five out of the five T20I series they have played post the COVID-19 break. They have lost one against India at home and others in four different continents.
In the two series that they have played this year, they lost both of them by the margin of 1-4 against defending champions West Indies and a struggling Bangladesh, who haven’t been able to fix their first XI yet.
So why has it come to this? How does a team that houses the likes of Aaron Finch, David Warner, Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell find it difficult to win a T20I series?
Well, largely, that’s what we are here to answer.
Who all are in the squad
Aaron Finch (C), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (VC), Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
Travelling reserves: Dan Christian, Nathan Ellis, Daniel Sams
The Warner-sized problem
Australia have backed David Warner as their favoured opener for the T20 World Cup even till the last week. The statements from Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell ahead of the warm-up games suggest that Australia will be backing the legendary left-hander who hasn’t been in touch since IPL 2020. Coming into the tournament, Warner was dropped as the SRH captain, a franchise that has won a title under his tutelage. SRH were forced to take the call after a string of below-par performances, where Warner, at his best, scored below 105 SR.
If the warm-up games are anything to go by, Warner is in serious decline and it is unlikely that he will gain back form.
Australia have the likes of Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade in their ranks and playing them can bear better results.
The theory of top-order stacking
T20 cricket is a batsman’s game, they say. And Australia have plenty of them in abundance. In fact, they have more opening batsmen than any other team in the world.
David Warner and Aaron Finch are Australia’s regular openers. Marcus Stoinis and Steve Smith have opened for Delhi Daredevils until recently in the Indian Premier League. They further have Mattew Wade, who has opened and done well for Australia when David Warner was unavailable while nursing his injuries.
When a team does this, more often than not, they are backing the talent of their players, rather than selecting them on the basis of their performance vis-a-vis their position in the line-up.
The proof of that strategy is that it allows you to have a lot of different kinds of hitters throughout the line-up. You can have a Steve Smith who can hit but won’t till he has stayed for a while, or a Stoinis, who could punch the ball of the park whenever he comes in. The con of that strategy is that you do not get someone like Ravindra Jadeja, who day in and day out trains to play for the number 6-7 role. And this will show up on the very bad days, when batsmen will falter on pitches that support a good bowling unit, raising big questions on the strategy and the lineup.
Who is going to play the spinners?
This is actually the elephant in the room that no one is addressing. The line-up of batsmen that Australia have selected for the T20 World Cup, barring Glenn Maxwell, none of them are elite hitters of spin bowling. Marcus Stoinis can, but since returning from injury, he has only played three innings. In one of them, he scored 18 runs at a strike rate below 100 and in the T20 WC warm-up game against India he scored an attacking 41 from 25 balls, an innings that’s closer to his stature.
But barring those two and sheet anchor Steve Smith, who by no means is an explosive T20 batsman, Australian batsmen cannot play spin.
It was fairly clear against India when Australia lost their top three batsmen against spin, inside just 11 runs.
Justin Langer's 6-5 system
Justin Langer rose to prominence as a coach on the back of his exploits with Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League. His system was based around playing five specialist bowlers who could keep the cap on the opposition.
He brought that system to the Australian team and found success, taking Australia to the top of the T20I rankings back in 2019.
But then came the pandemic. And it changed everything.
As discussed before, Australia lost series after series and the rigid Justin Langer came under immense criticism.
The issue with playing 5 specialist bowlers is that their number 7 batter could be Pat Cummins or Ashton Agar; against let’s say a Moeen Ali, who bats at 8 for England.
That is a huge difference in terms of skill with the bat, something that Australia have not been able to sustain at all.
Speaking in the pre-series conferences, Langer has shown a willingness to play a 7-4 system, but time will tell if Langer will stick to that thought.
Tricky combination of players
Coming into the tournament, only three batting positions have been sealed by the Australian camp.
Aaron Finch - Opening
Mitchell Marsh - Number 3
Glenn Maxwell - Number 4
If David Warner plays, he will open alongside Finch. Mitchell Marsh is there to provide explosiveness right after that, and from there Australia will hope that Glenn Maxwell can take over.
Maxwell is coming off a prolific IPL and is in the form of his life and Australia would not like to disturb that at all.
Behind Maxwell, Australia would pin their hopes on Marcus Stoinis and his long handle.
The biggest issue with the line-up is that Steve Smith, who might just be Australia’s only sheet anchor and one of their best players against spin, does not find a place in this line-up.
Matthew Wade, one of their best opening batters in recent times (SR 144) is pushed back to number 7, to play the finisher’s role. A man of Wade’s talent is wasted down the order, but that is the issue that Australia will have to deal with, having stacked the top order.
Bowling attack
Australia have their favoured spin combination in Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar. Both spinners have made a name for themselves to be tricky customers and it would not be wrong to assume that Australia will benefit from them in the UAE conditions.
The pace attack is where it gets tricky. Australia have one of the strongest attacks in the world, but it is very possible that they will not be able to play them together.
If they choose to play 4 bowlers, they might go Starc + Cummins, but then they will have to trust their all-rounders, Marsh and Stoinis to do the heavy lifting in the death overs.
With Josh Hazlewood having an exceptional IPL in the UAE for CSK, the decision only gets trickier. Do you then not play Starc, who is clearly the best new-ball bowler they have, or do you not play Pat Cummins, one of the best fast bowlers of this generation.
And we have not even pondered on Kane Richardson yet, who has solely been chosen to bowl at the back end of the innings, based on his prowess of variations.
Improvisation - The only chance Australia have
Horses for courses as they say. Australia to play three out of their 5 games in Dubai, two of which are to be played at night.
Safe to assume that Australia will play three front line pacers there and possibly trust Glenn Maxwell to come good in the biggest outfield the tournament has to offer.
They play the other games in Abu Dhabi, a wicket where spin has reigned, and Australia will have to make that adjustment by harshly dropping one of their best bowlers.
It has been a tough road for them coming into the World Cup and after accumulating losses series after series, they do not exactly strike the fear that they used to before the tournament began.
But Australia have enough firepower to prove them wrong and they will be hoping that like Maxwell and Hazlewood, the rest of the squad will peak at the right time to secure enough wins in the tough group that they already have.
Probable Playing XI
Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson
Australia T20 World Cup 2021 schedule
October 23 - Australia vs South Africa in Abu Dhabi
October 28 - Australia vs Qualifier A1 in Dubai
October 30 - Australia vs England in Dubai
November 4 - Australia vs Qualifier B2 in Dubai
November 6 - Australia vs West Indies in Abu Dhabi
 "Kingshuk Kusari")
