T20 World Cup 2021: Andrew Symonds rues missed opportunity to become Australia's mentor
Andrew Symonds has revealed that he was all set to join the Australian side for the 2021 T20 World Cup as a mentor. However, the COVID-19 outbreak and restrictions meant he couldn’t accept head coach Justin Langer’s invitation.
Symonds made his mark in the limited-overs format with his ability with the bat and the ball as well as his electric fielding displays.
The former Australian all-rounder told foxsports.com.au that he was honored with the call-up and was looking forward to taking up the role.
“Justin Langer is the man who contacted me. Because he’s had Ponting, Hussey, and Steve Waugh went on the Ashes, they were just trying to get players who had played different types of cricket and had extended periods of success in and around the group and a fresh face,” Andrew Symonds said.
Andrew Symonds added that the offer came as a surprise to him.
“I was really excited to go on that and honored. I said, ‘I can’t believe you’ve asked me to go’. I certainly wasn’t expecting that looking at the players who had done it.”
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The Australian side have been trying to involve legends of the game to help out the team with guidance and experience during important campaigns. Ricky Ponting had joined the Australian side ahead of the 2019 ICC Men’s World Cup campaign. Steve Waugh was part of the support group when the side traveled to England for the 2019 Ashes.
"He was one of the best, but he spent the time" - Andrew Symonds lauds MS Dhoni
Andrew Symonds pointed out that modern-day batters don’t bother to get themselves in, especially when it comes to the shortest format of the game.
He lauded MS Dhoni for his approach of spending time in the middle before going for expansive shots and wanted the youngsters to replicate the method.
“He (MS Dhoni) was one of the best, but he spent the time. Are we spending enough time getting ourselves in? It seems to me as if we go a little bit too hard, too quickly. But they probably call me a dinosaur. If they want to compete and win these things, it’s a major part they need to fix up," said Andrew Symonds.
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Symonds added that the importance of running between the wickets and turning over the strike would have been one of the key points he would have discussed with the current Australian side.
“That was going to be one of the things I was going to try to address with them. People say the game’s changed, but you still need to score your ones and twos. If someone bowls you a good ball, the best players in short-form cricket can get a good ball down to third-man or they can drop it at their feet and get off strike," he said.
Andrew Symonds has represented Australia in 198 ODIs and 14 T20Is in limited-overs cricket in addition to 26 Test matches. He has 6887 runs and 165 wickets against his name in international cricket.
Australia T20 World Cup squad have started off the campaign with a narrow victory against New Zealand in the first warm-up fixture. They will now face India on Wednesday.
Aaron Finch will lead Australia in their first Super 12 encounter on October 23 against South Africa.