Australia are at the bottom of the World Cup 2023 points table and it’s a sight that at first glance looks impossible. But it’s what it is. Australia are at the bottom with two defeats from two matches and with a negative net run rate of -1.846, which is also the worst among the 10 teams in the Cricket World Cup.
World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table
The record five-time champions lost to India by six wickets in their first match before losing to South Africa by a whopping 134 runs.
Two straight defeats mean Australia have very little room for error in the upcoming games. They now face Sri Lanka on Monday at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, but looking at their form, it’s difficult to pick the Aussies as clear favourites, which is generally never the case in World Cups.
How did Australia become so bad?
Well, there are multiple factors leading to Australia’s plight.
Unimpressive batting
In two matches so far the highest individual score for Australia have been 46 (Marnus Labuschagne) and in both matches the Aussies failed to touch the 200-run mark. The Australia batters have looked unequipped for the Indian pitches that offer spin with the team being asked to play their first three matches in Chennai and Lucknow — venues where spin plays a big role in the outcome of the matches.
In fact in the South Africa game, the Australian batters also struggled against pace with Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, and Lungi Ngidi combining for six wickets.
Squad issues
Australia had named Travis Head in their 15-member squad despite the opener suffering a fracture to his left hand during the South Africa series. The left-hander is now expected to be fit for Australia’s fifth match against the Netherlands on 25 October but one wonders if it’s the right call from the selectors given how Australia have started the World Cup.
A poor start has put their World Cup campaign in jeopardy.
Head’s absence means Australia effectively only have 14 players to pick from for their matches and are one quality batter short. Someone they could have used against Sri Lanka given the poor form of their batters.
Head, however, is not the only concern in Australia’s squad.
The injury to left-arm spinner Ashton Agar had also come as a big blow to Australia but their decision to pick Labuschagne as a replacement is questionable. Now they only have one expert spinner in Adam Zampa with Glenn Maxwell providing him support with his part-time bowling. Agar was out of the World Cup due to a calf injury, but the replacement could have been another spinner, someone like Nathan Lyon. You can’t just have one spinner for a World Cup in India.
So far in two matches, Zampa has returned figures of 0/53 and 1/70.
Poor fielding
Australia dropped six catches in the match against South Africa. This is very unlike Australia and you can’t win a match by dropping so many catches. So far Australia have the lowest catch efficiency of the World Cup with 54 per cent.
There are other factors as well. The team lacks cohesiveness and the cutting edge. The body language of Australian bowlers has been quite down. On the same Lucknow pitch where Australia bowlers lacked the zip, Proteaas pacers proved to be a menace.
Australian ODI captain Pat Cummins has also admitted that Australians are failing to read the pitches correctly in India.
“Yeah, (we) find these wickets hard to read as well. Sometimes they look terrible and they play beautifully, and the opposite. Sometimes they look flat and they end up spinning. So it is tough. You’ve just got to adapt on the fly sometimes,” Cummins said after the South Africa.
It’s difficult to believe but this is where we stand. If it was a single issue or a single department failing then Australia could have rectified it quickly, but currently, they are struggling on multiple fronts. They should now look to secure a win against Sri Lanka at any cost. Because winning is the only thing that can help them turn the tide now.
from Firstpost Sports Latest News https://ift.tt/oJ16v7N
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