Detailed Analysis of the Australian Team Before the ICC T20 World Cup 2024
Australia will be eyeing their second T20 World Cup when they take the field in the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The team from Down Under is currently holding the ICC World Test Championship and ODI World Cup and will be eyeing a hat-trick of ICC titles this year.
The Marsh-led side is in Group B along with defending champions England, Oman, Namibia and Scotland. They will be opening their campaign on June 5 against Oman. Before they take the field in the T20 World Cup, we are taking a look at their squad’s strength, weakness as well as the opportunities and the threats for them.
Australia squad SWOT analysis:
Strength:
Batting order:
Australia have a very strong batting order for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The likes of Travis Head, David Warner and Mitchell Marsh are the top-order options while hard-hitters such as Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Marcus Stoinis and Tim David are the options in the middle-order.
Stunning record in ICC competitions:
Australia’s experience of delivering in the ICC competitions is definitely a strong point for them. Australia are the most successful side in the history of the game when it comes to winning ICC tournament. Last year, they won the ICC World Test Championship as well as the ODI World Cup and would be looking to win the T20 World Cup as well to become the first team to hold all the three trophies at once.
The last time the T20 World Cup was played in the Caribbeans, the Aussies had qualified for the final before losing the title-decider against England. They will be taking confidence from that performance and will be looking to go all the way this year.
Weakness:
Death bowling:
While Australia do have a very formidable pace attack, there are doubts over their ability to do well in the death overs. The likes of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have been a force to reckon with in Tests and ODIs but the same cannot be said about their performances in T20Is.
Hazlewood has been the best among the three since 2022 even though his economy-rate is almost 10. Even in the recently-concluded IPL, Cummins had an economy-rate of over 9 while Starc’s economy-rate was 10.61. The bowlers need to be at their absolute best to stop the modern batters and Australia’s death bowling could prove costly for them.
Batting against spin:
Australia will be playing all of their games in West Indies and spin could be a decisive factor in those conditions. The teams will definitely be using spin bowlers and it could turn out to be a problem for Australia. Most of their batters are not known for their ability to play well against spinners.
Glenn Maxwell has a reputation of doing well against the spinners but he will be low on confidence after his disastrous campaign in this year’s IPL. Maxwell struggled throughout the competition and finished the tournament with just 52 runs from 10 games.
Opening combination:
The Australian team management will have to take a big call for the opening pair. Not very long ago, captain Mitchell Marsh and David Warner were looking set to open the innings for Australia. However, Warner’s terrible campaign in IPL 2024 has coincided with Travis Head’s brilliant performance as an opener and it would be interesting to see who partners Marsh at the top.
Warner, who has already retired from ODIs and Tests, struggled in the IPL, scoring only 168 runs in 8 games. On the other hand, Head scored 567 runs in 15 games with the help of one century and four half-centuries.
Opportunity:
Chance to complete the set:
Australia will have the opportunity to complete the set of all the ICC trophies at once if they win the upcoming T20 World Cup. No team has managed to hold all the ICC trophies at once and Australia will be eyeing a historic treble.
They won the Test Championship and ODI World Cup last year and would be looking to go all the way in the T20 World Cup this year to complete a historic treble. A win will also make Australia only the third team after West Indies and England to win the tournament twice.
Threat:
Poor form of top stars:
While Australia do have a strong squad for the T20 World Cup, their biggest concern would be the form of their star players David Warner and Glenn Maxwell. Both the players played a key role in their ODI World Cup triumph last year and will have to play a similar role if Australia want to win the T20 World Cup as well.
However, both the senior players are coming into this tournament on the back of a disastrous outing in the IPL. Maxwell managed to score only 52 runs in 10 games while Warner scored 168 runs in 8 games. Time and again, Warner and Maxwell have turned things around spectacularly on the big stage and Australia will be hoping that they do it again in the upcoming competition.
Australia squad:
Mitchell Marsh ©, David Warner, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green, Ashton Agar, Tim David, Josh Inglis (WK), Matthew Wade (WK), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa, Nathan Ellis
Travelling reserves: Matthew Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk
