Yet another World Cup and yet another hunt for the mighty Australians! But since the last World Cup victory, a lot of things have changed for the Aussies. The young army is still one of the favorite teams but the five-time champions are certainly not a thread like before. Let’s take a look at the Strengths and Weaknesses of Team Australia for the ICC World Cup 2019.

The Squad

Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Steve Smith, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey(wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

Strengths of Team Australia

The comeback of Steve Smith and David Warner post the one year ban followed by the sandpaper saga is the biggest boost for Australia. With the current form, Australia might not be a very strong contender for World Cup time, but they are the best on their day. The returns of Steve and Warner are the two most important pillars for their batting line up. With more than 7000 runs and 22 ODI centuries between the two of them, they are the real threats. A bowling attack consisted of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummings is a challenge for any good batting side. Moreover, those five trophies at the cabinet are the biggest strength for the Aussies. They have every time done extremely well in this particular platform.

Weaknesses of Team Australia

It has been more than two years since Australians won an ODI series. In fact, even with the Smith and Warner Australia faced ten straight ODI defeats. They have only won four matches and lost 19 in the last two years time. This is the worst stats for any team in the cricket world. Aaron Finch’s struggle is a big concern as he is not able to give a solid start. The team is lacking a match winner who can turn things in favor according to the situation. The entire Australian squad has a total number of 19 centuries which is a real disgrace for defending champions. So there are a lot of things that Australian team management need to focus on. Return of Smith and Warner can be a positive thing but it cannot solve everything or they alone cannot give trophy for the sixth time.

Written By Shreysi Dravid

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