With its survival at stake, Australia is saddled with an enormous task
of taking on two Asian giants, Pakistan and India, in its ‘home’
conditions over the next five days in the World T20.
For Australia, a five-time World Cup champion which is yet to win
a World T20 title, it is about time to set the record straight in the
shortest version of the game. After a defeat against New Zealand in its
tournament opener and a hard-fought win over Bangladesh, Australia has
managed just two points from as many matches.
For a team packed with some fine batters and experienced all-rounders,
the results so far must be far from comforting. Australian wicketkeeper
Peter Nevill would not agree though, especially about the tense match
against Bangladesh.
“I won’t say it was too close to comfort, but probably would have liked
to be more clinical than we were with that run chase the other night,”
said Nevill following Australia’s optional practice session at the PCA
Stadium here on Wednesday.
Australia, which meets Pakistan on Friday and India on Sunday, is
aware of the challenges it may face over the weekend. “They are both
tough. I certainly have compared them. There will be different
challenges of playing against two teams. They have different strengths,”
said Nevill.
Permutations and combinations
The Aussies must have done their math to prepare themselves for worst
case scenarios where the net run rate can dictate terms. The simplest
solution for Australia is to win both the matches. But it is not so
simple. It has not played against Pakistan in recent times and has lost a
home series to India 3-0.
“I would imagine we would just want to win this match and the next match
against India,” wished Nevill. “If you drop one of these games, then
obviously we are relying on other results going our way. We would rather
not be in that position. The game against Pakistan is a must-win for us,” he added pragmatically.
