Australia’s Shaun Tait says he won’t appear in ICC World Cup 2015
Australia’s pace sensation Shaun Tait has announced that the ongoing ICC World Cup 2011 would be his last appearance in the World Cup and believes he will not appear in the next mega event set to take place in Australia and New Zealand in 2015.
Talking to reporters, Tait said, “This will probably be my last World Cup, so I'm enjoying it while I can. I’ll be very surprised [if he appears in the next World Cup], but you never know. Everything has gone well for me so far [in this World Cup].”
Tait is leading Australia’s pace attack along with veteran pacer Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson. The trio are running havoc in the ranks of their oppositions in the current World Cup.
Tait feels his body is suffering and he can’t keep hurling deliveries at 150kph at batsmen for much longer. His statement has come as a shock considering his current form and fitness in the World Cup. The pacer has taken six wickets so far.
Tait is just 28 and still pretty much in his prime. There is a general perception that he can easily play another World Cup considering that that Brett Lee (34) and Shoaib Akhtar (35) are still bowling fast enough to rattle the best of batsmen. Last week, Akhtar bowled a delivery touching 159kph. If Lee and Akhtar are bowling well into their mid 30’s, there is no reason why Tait cannot do the same.
Tait has been criticised in the past for shunning the Test format of the game to become a One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 specialist. However, the Australian believes he knows his body best and is aware of how much pressure he can take.
Shaun Tait says he is enjoying his stint in the World Cup and wants to make it a memorable tournament by helping his team win the global event for the fourth time in a row. Australia are pinning their hopes on their fast bowlers to come through this year’s World Cup. Australia opted to bring a full pace battalion in the subcontinent even though the wickets in that part of the world are known to support spinners. Interestingly though, the pacers have not let any batting line-up dominate. Australia have not lost a match in the World Cup so far in the group stages with three matches still to go.
Since Tait considers this his last appearance in the mega event, he is not holding back from showing his emotions on the field – aggression against batsmen without any remorse. However, this has made Tait reckless and in the match against Sri Lanka, he snapped, hurling abuses at Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan. The two exchanged heated remarks without any of them backing down. While this spat may have irked ICC’s high-ups, Tait maintains that such incidents help him regain focus during bowling and to take wickets.
“I thought I'd try and get under his skin to be honest, A bit of aggression helps, you can't get too carried away with things, but short bursts for me are perfect, trying to bowl decent pace, get a bit of swing for a couple of overs and then cool my jets again,” he said, defending his behaviour on the field.
Tags: