Ricky Ponting wants Brad Haddin to opening with aggression in ICC World Cup
Australian captain, Ricky Ponting, wants his top order batsmen to take full advantage of their starts and make big scores in the World Cup cricket tournament.
The defending champions have been placed in group A and open their campaign with a match against minnows http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 at the Motera stadium in Ahmedabad.
Ponting has singled out wicket-keeper batsman, Brad Haddin, as the one who has to carry on and maximize his starts at the top of the innings, the right hander has been in decent touch off late yet has not been able to deliver the knock-out punch and deliver a big innings.
He is set to have his chance in the preliminary stage of the tournament where the Aussies would play seven group matches before they coast into the knock out stage that starts with the quarter-finals.
Ponting feels that Haddin has the talent and only needs application to play a match winning knock.
"It's something we discussed throughout the summer with him as well", Ponting said. "We all understand, as top-order players, you have to make big scores. A 30 or 50 in any form of the game very rarely wins you anything. It's your responsibility as a top-order player to be in late in the innings”.
The legendary batsman and captain, who is in the twilight of his career and for all intents and purposes this World Cup is set to be his last at the highest level, thinks that Haddin has not chipped in with a big ton as he tends to get carried away and dominate the bowling a bit too much, which leads to his downfall due to a silly shot.
Haddin would have his first chance of laying into an attack a score a big one against the Zimbabweans, who have a mediocre pace attack, that cannot pose much of a challenge to his free flowing stroke play.
The Aussies would be looking to further their unbeaten streak in the biggest tournament of the One Day International (ODI) stage where they have not lost a single match since a defeat at the hands of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 at Headingly, Leeds back in the 1999 edition.
One thing that the Aussies would have to guard against would be the conditions in the Subcontinent that don't always make it easy to get away briskly.
The Zimbabweans are likely to open their bowling with a spinner, which will present a different challenge again for Haddin, and his opening partner, Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326, who has been in scintillating form of late scoring big runs at the start of the innings, which included a magical unbeaten ton against England at Melbourne.
Both openers are expected to be at the top of their game. They are set to make life difficult for all opposition especially the Zimbabweans. Low ranked teams in their group that would fear the might of the triple world champions in their favourite tournament.
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