Big picture
Following the wintry weather of Dharamsala, Australia hope to thaw their World Twenty20 campaign in the warmer surrounds of Bangalore. Faced with an opponent in Bangladesh who have never beaten them in the format, and aided by the harsh lessons of their opening game against a crafty and resourceful New Zealand, Steven Smith's team will be confident of doing so. Nevertheless, the World T20 is a fleeting experience - the coach Darren Lehmann has said "it's so quick you haven't got too much time to think about it" - and one false move will mean virtual elimination inside two games.
Continuity has long been a problem for Australia in T20, and the New Zealand defeat raised the prospect of still more shuffling. Smith's men have been almost universally blind-sided by the tournament's preponderance of slow and turning surfaces well removed from the kinds of inviting surfaces thy have grown used to in the IPL, and must quickly find a way to prosper against the spinning ball given Bangladesh will not be short of slow men. Team balance is also an issue, with Aaron Finch on the fringes of the team and a second spinner in Ashton Agar who was seemingly picked without much expectation from the selectors that he would be needed. A little stability would not go astray, given how the Australians must now try to build momentum over the next two games before they meet India in the final qualifying match.
Bangladesh have meanwhile been waylaid by the banning of Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny for illegal bowling actions. Aside from the trauma of being ejected from the competition, they have presented the coach Chandika Hathurusingha with his own selection conundrum about who comes in. The batting allrounder Shuvagata Hom and left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib are their likely replacements, the latter chosen for the first time. The fact both men bowl spin will be a reminder of what this tournament is calling for: by the end of Monday night Australia and Bangladesh will know whether they stand a chance of finding the right combination for it.
Form guide
(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia LWWLL
Bangladesh LWWLW
Read More
Following the wintry weather of Dharamsala, Australia hope to thaw their World Twenty20 campaign in the warmer surrounds of Bangalore. Faced with an opponent in Bangladesh who have never beaten them in the format, and aided by the harsh lessons of their opening game against a crafty and resourceful New Zealand, Steven Smith's team will be confident of doing so. Nevertheless, the World T20 is a fleeting experience - the coach Darren Lehmann has said "it's so quick you haven't got too much time to think about it" - and one false move will mean virtual elimination inside two games.
Continuity has long been a problem for Australia in T20, and the New Zealand defeat raised the prospect of still more shuffling. Smith's men have been almost universally blind-sided by the tournament's preponderance of slow and turning surfaces well removed from the kinds of inviting surfaces thy have grown used to in the IPL, and must quickly find a way to prosper against the spinning ball given Bangladesh will not be short of slow men. Team balance is also an issue, with Aaron Finch on the fringes of the team and a second spinner in Ashton Agar who was seemingly picked without much expectation from the selectors that he would be needed. A little stability would not go astray, given how the Australians must now try to build momentum over the next two games before they meet India in the final qualifying match.Bangladesh have meanwhile been waylaid by the banning of Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny for illegal bowling actions. Aside from the trauma of being ejected from the competition, they have presented the coach Chandika Hathurusingha with his own selection conundrum about who comes in. The batting allrounder Shuvagata Hom and left-arm spinner Saqlain Sajib are their likely replacements, the latter chosen for the first time. The fact both men bowl spin will be a reminder of what this tournament is calling for: by the end of Monday night Australia and Bangladesh will know whether they stand a chance of finding the right combination for it.
Form guide
(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia LWWLL
Bangladesh LWWLW
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment