Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has revealed what the former Australia team needs to do to quickly bounce back from their first-match defeat as they aim for a sixth trophy at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Australia will be looking to avoid starting the World Cup with back-to-back losses when they face rivals South Africa on Thursday.
The five-time champions were badly defeated by hosts India in the first match of the tournament and now need to get their campaign back on track or risk losing touch with their early pacesetters.
The 10 teams in the 2023 Cricket World Cup will play each other with little margin for error as only the top four teams in the standings will advance to the semi-finals.
“To be honest, Australia looked out of place in that game against India,” Ponting said on the latest programme. ICC Review Podcast.
“In the World Cup, you can’t just go back and forth (0-2). We know how important it is to finish first.
“But I still have full faith in their team. It’s a very good team, a very talented team. We know there are a lot of all-rounders in that team.”
Australia probably paid the price for starting the Cricket World Cup with so few specialist spinners, as they were hoping Adam Zampa would make an impact.
Zampa was the leading wicket-taker in ODIs between the 2019 Cricket World Cup and this edition in India, with 77 scalps and an average of 22.9, but he found little success against the hosts. .
The leg-spinner failed to take a wicket against India, conceding 53 runs in eight overs as Australia struggled to make the most of their breaking balls.
“The other thing I probably learned is they need Adam Zampa to bowl well. It’s that simple,” Ponting said.
“Zampa and (Glenn) Maxwell are the only spinners recognized in the playing eleven for that first match, so much of the wicket-taking burden will fall back on Zampa.
“That didn’t happen in the first game.”
Australian quicks Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood scored early goals to give India a 3/2 lead, but Virat Kohli and KL Rahul led the fightback and captain Pat Cummins There were few alternatives.
Two-time World Cup-winning captain Ponting urged Australia to use their depth of all-rounders to shake up their bowling attack.
“They have the flexibility to only play two quicks and bring in another spinner if they need to,” Ponting said.
“They have Cameron Green, Mitchell Marsh and potentially Marcus Stoinis who could play as a third fast bowler.
“Then you will have the option to play two specialist spinners and Maxwell.”
Marsh has performed well as a top-order batsman after the injury to Travis Head and is more than capable with the ball.
But before India’s stars could really get going, the usually reliable Marsh grassed an easy catch from Kohli and Australia missed an opportunity to push India back to the ropes.
Mr Ponting believes simple mistakes like this could cost Australia.
“There’s an old saying in our game, and I don’t need to repeat it, but this is just one of the little signs for me that Australia were just a little bit off from the first leg,” Ponting said. Told.
.“The best teams I’ve ever seen have always been great defensively. They make very few mistakes.
“The team that wins the World Cup is the one that makes the fewest mistakes throughout the tournament.”