(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] Two-time World Cup-winning captain Ricky Ponting sounded the alarm for the Australian team, which lost their first match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 against India on Sunday in Chennai.
The Pat Cummins-led Australia endured a six-wicket defeat at the hands of India. Cummins won the toss and elected to bat first on the match day, but the below-par performance by Australian batters only got them to 199 runs.
While chasing, Australia got off to a good start as their pacers dismissed Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Shreyas Iyer all at a score at two. After that, a strong partnership between Virat Kohli and KL Rahul snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, leaving the Aussies side in disbelief.
Following the loss, Ponting warned Cummins and Co. to make a strong comeback in the tournament. Otherwise, it would prove to be challenging for them as the ongoing event progresses.
“Australia, to me, looked to be a fair way off the mark, to be honest, in that game against India. You can’t afford to be zip-and-two (0-2) in a World Cup. We know how important it is to finish up the top of the table,” Ponting said on the latest episode of The ICC Review podcast.
“But I’ve still got full faith in their squad. It is a very good squad, a very talented squad. We know there’s a lot of all-rounders in that side,” he added.
Ponting further mentioned that Adam Zampa will need to do most of the hard work since the team is carrying only him as a specialist spinner.
“The other thing that I probably learned is that they’re going to need Adam Zampa bowling well. It’s as simple as that. With only Zampa and Glenn Maxwell as the recognised spinners in their playing XI for that first game, then a lot of the wicket-taking onus is going to come back on Zampa. It didn’t happen in game one,” he concluded.
Australia is all set to face the dangerous-looking South Africa in their second game of the World Cup 2023 on October 12 at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium. Notably, Australia recently lost the five-match ODI series against the Proteas by 3-2, and it will be interesting to see how the Men in Yellow fare against them this time.