T20 World Cup 2021: SWOT Analysis of the Australian squad
The T20 World Cup trophy has so far eluded the Australian cricket team. Since the inception of the tournament, the Aussies have failed to win the coveted trophy. They came close to winning the trophy in 2010 but ended up as runners-up as England beat them in the finals.
The T20 World Cup 2021 ("the tournament") provides the perfect opportunity for the Aussies to win their maiden trophy in the shortest format. They missed the services of a few experienced players when they toured West Indies and Bangladesh. But now the Australian selectors have named a full strength squad for the tournament. The squad is as under:
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.
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On that now, here is a SWOT analysis of the Australian squad for the said tournament.
#1. Strengths - Experienced bowling attack
Their biggest strength going into the tournament is bowling. The pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Patrick Cummins and Josh Hazlewood are among the best in the tournament.
Starc averages 21.82 in 41 T20Is and has picked up 51 T20I wickets. He is exceptional with the new ball as well as in the death overs and will spearhead the pace attack.
Cummins, too, has an impressive average in T20Is (20.62) and has 37 T20I wickets to his credit. He has an exceptional economy rate of 6.94 considering the fact that he bowls most of his overs in the power play overs.
Josh Hazlewood played a vital role in the second leg of the IPL 2021 and was one of the reasons for the success of the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2021.
Adam Zampa has been exceptional for Australia in the middle overs and has picked up 52 wickets at an average of 23.42.
Ashton Agar has also impressed one and all with his left-arm orthodox spin and has picked up 42 wickets at an average of 21.69.
All in all, the Aussie bowlers are an experienced lot having played a lot of international cricket.
#2. Weakness - Lack of finishers in the middle and lower middle-order
The Aussies lack batsmen in their squad who can provide finishing touches to the innings. Apart from Glenn Maxwell, none of the batsmen inspire much confidence in the middle and lower-middle order.
Matthew Wade averages just 19.26 and has a strike rate of 123.82 in T20Is. Ashton Agar has not impressed much with the bat in T20Is. He averages just 11.26 and has a strike rate of 103.88 in T20Is.
Though Marcus Stoinis has a strike rate of 133.81, he averages just 26.07 in T20Is. Mitchell Marsh averages 28 and has a strike rate of 120.27 in T20Is.
Thus none of the above-mentioned players have been able to play an aggressive knock consistently. Hence Australians have struggled in T20Is in recent times.
#3. Opportunities - Senior players to step up to the mark
David Warner was left out of Sunrisers Hyderabad, playing 11 matches after a solitary game in the UAE leg of 2021. He could score just two runs in the said game. The IPL 2021 was a forgettable outing for Warner as he averaged just 24.38 in eight innings. Warner will want to silence his critics by scoring big runs in the tournament.
Aaron Finch is making a come-back to the Australian squad after a long lay-off due to injury. He will be keen to make his presence felt at the top of the order for Australia.
Steve Smith too did not taste much success in the IPL 2021 and will look to be back in form scoring runs for the Aussies.
Warner, Finch and Smith are the backbones of the Australian batting line-up. If they score runs, the Aussies will certainly be a force to reckon with in the tournament.
#4. Threat - Tough group stage opponents
Australia will face tough competition in Group 1. Their first match is against South Africa on 23rd October 2021. South Africa have played exceptional T20I cricket in 2021 and will be no pushovers.
England and West Indies too are placed in Group 1 and the Aussies will be challenged in both matches. England are currently placed at number 1 position in the ICC ratings for T20Is. West Indies recently beat Australia by a margin of 4-1 in a T20I series earlier this year.
Australia have a team that will challenge other teams in the tournament. However, it remains to be seen if the middle order and the lower middle order can consistently finish games for them in the tournament.