World Cup 2011: Ponting pins hopes in his pacers
Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting believes that their chances of winning fourth consecutive World Cup title largely depend on the pacers of the team.
Australia, who have recently clinched the seven-match One-Day International (ODI) series against arch-rivals England by 6-1, have left for the mega event which will be hosted jointly by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Although, the conditions in the Subcontinent are more suitable for spinners but according to skipper Ponting Aussies will rely on speedsters Shaun Tait and Brett Lee.
Ponting, in his today’s column, revealed that it won’t be suitable to use spinners frequently in the World Cup because Subcontinent batsmen especially Indians and Sri Lankans are expert in playing spin. “We’ll be unleashing Lee and Tait at 150 kilometers-an-hour (93mph) to unsettle their batsmen,” said Ponting.
Ponting further asserted that they will take advantage of Shaun’s bowling in the same way they did four years ago. They will give him a couple of opening overs to check his form and if he managed to overcome the rival batsmen then he will be used in short bursts during the innings when ball starts reversing.
“Pace is the area where I believe we will make the biggest impact and will be decisive in our hopes of attempting to win a fourth successive World Cup,” Ponting wrote in his column.
Tait, 27, was the second highest wicket-taker at 2007 World Cup with 23 scalps in the Caribbean while Lee had picked 22 wickets with an average of 20.30 at 2003 World Cup held in South Africa.
Tait made his ODI debut on February 2, 2007 against England at Sydney Cricket Ground and remained unimpressive altogether. He claimed two wickets at the expense of 68 runs in 10 overs. The 34-year-old Lee, who made his ODI debut against Pakistan on January 9, 2000 at Gabba, has picked up 11 wickets in the recently-concluded ODI rubber against England.
Earlier in 2006, International Cricket Council had ranked him the No.1 ODI bowler. Lee was the first Australian bowler to make his hat-trick in 2003 World Cup against Kenya. Apart from Ponting, former skippers Greg Chappell and Steve Waugh also considered Lee as leader of the Australian bowling attack.
In addition, Australia have also other important fast bowlers in their 15-man squad including Mitchell Johnson and Dough Bollinger along with the all-rounders Shane Watson and John Hastings.
After the Ashes debacle, strong-nerve Australians bounced back superbly and defeated England in ODI series overwhelmingly despite absence of their seasoned captain Ricky Ponting, who sustained finger injury in the third Test while attempting for a catch. Ponting now has recovered from his injury and started practicing in the nets.
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