World Cup 2019: 'Would not be surprised if I got dropped for next game' says man of the match Coulter-Nile
What's the story?
Australian all-rounder, Nathan Coulter-Nile after playing the 'innings of his life' against dark horses, West Indies in the 10th match of ICC World Cup 2019 feels that there is a possibility that he will be dropped for the team's next game.
The background
Defending champions, Australia were reeling at 147-6 when no.8 batsman, Coulter-Nile came out to bat against West Indies at Trent Bridge. Captain Steve Smith needed support from the other end and the fast bowler played an innings of 92 runs to take his team to a total of 288. Ultimately, West Indies could not chase down the target as Australia won the match by 15 runs. However, Coulter-Nile proved to be the most expensive bowler of the Australian bowling attack. He conceded 70 runs in his 10 wicket-less overs.
The heart of the matter
After winning the match for his team, Coulter-Nile made a surprising statement in an interview with Cricket Australia where he stated that he won't be surprised if he is dropped from the playing XI for the game against India.
"We've got two world-class bowlers (Jason Behrendorff and Kane Richardson). I'm not in the team to make runs, hopefully the top order does that, so I wouldn't be surprised if I got dropped for the next game. I'm in the team to take wickets and I've had two wicketless games, so we'll see how we go."
He even mentioned that it was good to have competition in the team because it pushes everyone to try hard. Given that he had a forgettable outing with the ball in the warm-up matches as well, Coulter-Nile may seriously miss out on a spot in the match squad against India.
What's next?
Australia will play their third match of the ICC World Cup 2019 versus India on 9th June, 2019 at the Oval.