Ponting backs rookie to shine in Cup
RICKY Ponting believes India are the “standout T20 team” and expects the cricket powerhouse nation to meet defending champions Australia in the final of next month’s tournament Down Under.
Australia revealed their 15-man squad for the tournament on Thursday, which includes uncapped 26year-old Tim David.
Ponting believes David can have the same impact as Andrew Symonds did in 2003, when the batting all-rounder had his coming-of-age moment and never looked back.
The former Australian captain also admitted that if skipper Aaron Finch continued to fail, “the pressure is just going to mount”.
Much has changed since Australia won their maiden T20 World Cup almost 10 months ago. For starters Justin Langer has moved on as coach, with Andrew Mcdonald overseeing the experienced squad.
And while they were underdogs going into the tournament last year, with the conditions largely foreign and a struggling team that had missed a number of its heavy hitters in the lead-in matches, Mcdonald’s side is very settled.
“The main reason they were underdogs was it was more about the conditions than anything else,” Ponting said.
“They had a really good team going into that World Cup. I think we fear the Indians and Pakistanis, and those teams in those conditions, and Australia were just good enough and everything sort of fell in line for them perfectly on that tour to play great cricket.
“India are the standout T20 team because of the depth of talent they’ve got and how many guys that they can keep bringing in and out of that side and they keep winning.”