Bengaluru: Heavyweights Australia will be gunning for complete sweep of ICC titles while their Ashes rivals England are hoping to put up much stronger title defence as compared to their ODI one in what looks like a two-horse race in Group B of the T20 World Cup.
Australia -- the most successful country in ICC events having won six ODI World Cups, one T20 World Cup, two editions of Champions Trophy and one World Test Championship -- arrive in the Americas swaggering with confidence following an incredible 2023. They first won the World Test Championship final in June and then, following a tepid start to the ODI World Cup where they lost their opening two matches, cantered to glory in the final in November.
Now, they’ll be attempting to add a second T20 World Cup trophy and become the first team to hold all three world championships simultaneously which will just rubber-stamp the dominance they’ve been wielding over the sport for decades now.
With the squad they have, Australia can certainly be counted amongst the favourites. Opener Travis Head, who scored a sensational century in the ODI World Cup final to blow away India, has warmed up for the carnival in the Caribbeans with a rousing show in the IPL and there’s plenty of firepower too after him, the line-up reading Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis and Tim David.
On the bowling front, they’ve got their bases covered in Mitchell Starc — the left-arm seamer born for the big occasions — the ever consistent Josh Hazlewood, wicket-taking leg-spinner Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar, who can be effective on the slow Caribbean pitches. Last but not the least, skipper and pace spearhead Pat Cummins himself.
Looking to stall their march, at least in the group phase, will be defending champions England. The Three Lions fumbled inexplicably with their ODI World Cup title defence in India but skipper Jos Buttler has said they are wiser by the experience and is confident of his side going deeper in this event.
England, whose explosive brand of batting led them to World Cup glories in 2019 (ODI) and 2022 (T20), will be sticking to the same template. Buttler, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone are some of the most feared hitters in world cricket and they sure will come out all guns blazing.
If there’s an area of weakness it’s their bowling that can leak runs. All eyes though will be on Jofra Archer, the fast bowler who is gathering steam after returning from injury. Archer was born in Bridgetown, Barbados and the 29-year-old, whose career has been blighted by injuries, will be seeking a top show at his ‘first home’.
Scotland, Oman and Namibia complete the group.
Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.
England: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Ben Duckett, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, Mark Wood.
Namibia: Gerhard Erasmus (c), Zane Green, Michael Van Lingen, Dylan Leicher, Ruben Trumpelmann, Jack Brassell, Ben Shikongo, Tangeni Lungameni, Niko Davin, JJ Smit, Jan Frylinck, JP Kotze, David Wiese, Bernard Scholtz, Malan Kruger, PD Blignaut.
Oman: Aqib Ilyas (c), Zeeshan Maqsood, Kashyap Prajapati, Pratik Athavale, Ayaan Khan, Shoaib Khan, Mohammad Nadeem, Naseem Khushi, Mehran Khan, Bilal Khan, Rafiullah, Kaleemullah, Fayyaz Butt, Shakeel Ahmad, Khalid Kail.
Scotland: Richie Berrington (c), Matthew Cross, Brad Currie, Chris Greaves, Oli Hairs, Jack Jarvis, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Chris Sole, Charlie Tear, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal.