T20 World Cup 2022: Is Cameron Green worth the risk?

Australia are the defending champions [PC: Twitter]

The defending World T20 Champions and hosts, Australia, are favourites heading into this years T20 World Cup 2022 with a power-packed squad but they have do have problems of their own. Questions that they need an answer to ahead of the mega-event, if they want to defend their crown.

Should Green be a part of the T20 World Cup 2022 squad?

Australia have been changing and chopping things a lot in the recent time. We will see this trend continue ahead of the World Cup. They started Cameron Green ahead of Smith in the 1st T20I against West Indies, he retained his spot while Smith came in for Marsh in the 2nd T20I. So, it is pretty clear that Australia are still unsure about their top-order.

Will they go ahead with Finch & Warner as their openers? It is pretty certain that Warner opens the innings & skipper Finch is part of the XI. So the best is to go ahead with them as openers but if Green somehow walks into the thick of things he might end up opening because that is where he can do the most damage.

If he ends up opening, Finch moves down to number 3. Which leaves me with a question, do you need Smith? Well a team ends an anchor in the XI & Finch at number 3 is well capable enough to take that responsibility which will them help have a power packed middle as well as lower middle order.

Are Marsh, Stoinis fit enough to trust them for the entire tournament?

Marsh & Stoinis have been subject to long term injuries in the past which might force Australia to wonder if having Green could potentially level up their game ahead of the biggest cricketing event of the year. Marsh is yet to bowl in a T20I post his return from injury while Stoinis rarely gets a crack at it. So, it makes sense to have Green in the squad.

Can Australia feature Marsh, Stoinis & Green in the XI? 

Marsh was prolific in the last T20 World Cup

Ever since his power packed performance at the top of the order against India, Green has emerged as possible option that could eventually come into the T20 World Cup squad of Australia. Well let's have a look at a potential XI of Australia with all three of them in it.

David Warner
Cameron Green*
Aaron Finch (c)
Mitchell Marsh
Glenn Maxwell
Marcus Stoinis/Tim David**
Matthew Wade
Pat Cummins
Mitchell Starc
Josh Hazlewood
Adam Zampa

*is not a part of the squad as of now but you never know
**with Marcus Stoinis' injury concers, Tim David could be an alternate option

Australia can end up fielding an XI, that bats deep & has 8 bowling options in the team which can prove handy in an event like the World Cup. But, it can only happen if they are ready to sacrifice Steven Smith who has 7 single digit figures in his last 12 T20I innings.

Let's have a look at the standard Australian XI without Green

David Warner
Aaron Finch (c)
Mitchell Marsh
Steven Smith
Glenn Maxwell
Marcus Stoinis/Tim David**
Matthew Wade
Pat Cummins
Mitchell Starc
Josh Hazlewood
Adam Zampa

**with Marcus Stoinis' injury concers, Tim David could be an alternate option

While both XI look great on paper, the major difference is that the above XI without Green has less bowling options and is a touch less power packed. Anyone who has observed T20 cricket from close quarters would know that having extra bowling options and explosive batters in the middle is the way forward. The might West Indies that won 2 T20 World Cups back in the day are an example that one cannot ignore.

Also Read: Decoding Aaron Finch: Australia's silent leader