
Australia have been the most successful team in the ICC tournaments. They have won 5 World Cup’s which include three consecutive ones in 1999, 2003 and 2007. They have won 2 Champions League trophies in 2006 and 2009 but Australia still hasn’t won one trophy- The ICC T20 World Cup. They have come close, quite a few times, reaching the finals of the tournament in 2010 and 2012 but lost to England and West Indies respectively.
Former Australian captain, Ricky Ponting believes that this is the year when Australia can indeed break this “duck” of theirs and win their first T20 World Cup trophy.
Australia is ranked 6th on the ICC T20 rankings. They recently lost a T20I series against Bangladesh 4-1. There have been concerns over the “cracks” that were shown during that series which may increase the pressure on the coach, Justin Langer.
Just a day back, Cricket Australia announced the squad for the global event. Opener Aaron Finch and batting talisman, Steve Smith will return to the T20I squad. The new addition of Josh Inglis has caught the eye of the former captain. He praised the talent of the promising wicketkeeper- batsmen.
He tweeted, “Awesome to see Inglis get his opportunity in the squad, he’s been scoring runs for fun and if Ellis is called on it’s a great story for how far he’s come since moving to Tassie. Overall, it’s a brilliant squad of players that I think are capable of winning the World Cup.”
Inglis has scored a glut of runs for various teams in this format. In the Vitality Blast, he scored 531 runs at an average of 48.27 at a strike rate of 175.82 for his team Leicestershire. This includes an unbeaten 118 against Worcestershire. He is currently playing the Hundred for London Spirit and has scored two half-centuries.
George Bailey, chairman of selectors, praised him saying that he offers the squad flexibility, in regards to the batting order with his counter-attacking and hitting ability and is a player which excites him.