"Their story is that all 5 fingers come together but do not become a fist" - Aakash Chopra on Australia's squad for the T20 World Cup
Aakash Chopra believes Australia are unlikely to have a great run at the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Australia are clubbed with England, West Indies, South Africa and two qualifying teams in Group A of the T20 World Cup 2021. They recently announced their squad for the mega event, which will be played in the UAE and Oman.
Speaking about their squad in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra was circumspect about their chances at the global event. He reasoned:
"On paper, this looks a fantastic team. But their story is that all five fingers come together but do not become a fist. While this looks like a very good team on paper, I am not very very excited about their prospects."
Here is the list of T20 World Cup winners so far from the first edition of 2007 to till now.
The former Indian batsman added that the Australians being in the tougher group is a blow to their chances. Aakash Chopra said:
"Firstly the pool they are in, I feel they are going to get slightly stuck. That's the pool of death, ours is not."
England and West Indies are certainly the favorites to make it through to the semi-finals from Group A. However, the Aaron Finch-led side have the potential to spring a surprise or two and make it through to the knockout stages.
"The bowling is looking extremely good" - Aakash Chopra
While acknowledging that Australia have an excellent seam-bowling attack, Aakash Chopra believes the Aussies might be found slightly wanting in the spin-bowling department. He elaborated:
"The bowling is looking extremely good but they are slightly short in the spin department. And also remember that the World Cup is going to happen after the IPL."
The reputed commentator added that the Australian batsmen might also have difficulties playing against the spinners on the UAE tracks that are likely to turn. Aakash Chopra pointed out:
"When those things remain in the mind, Australia becomes a decent team, not a great team because the spin reserves - Swepson, Zampa, Agar - not the greatest, let's admit that. There could be some problems while playing against spin in the batting department as well."
Australia have come up short in their two recent T20I series against West Indies and Bangladesh. They lost both the series by a 4-1 margin, with their batting shortcomings, in particular, coming to the fore.