T20 World Cup 2022: Brett Lee backs Australia to defend title, but guards against slow start

Australia generally have been known to be slow starters. For the records, Australia did not start well at the inaugural edition in 2007, with their first game ending in five-wicket defeat to Zimbabwe.

They recovered to make the semifinals and their turbulent relationship with T20 continued with a group-stage exit in 2009.

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The Kangaroos were well beaten by rivals England in the 2010 final and reached the semifinals in 2012.

It looked like they had been left behind by the rest of the world when they failed to navigate the Super 10 in both 2014 and 2016 but a rousing run to the final last year wiped the slate clean.

“The last thing you want is to find yourself playing catch-up after the opening game. We saw that happen to India last time, and I had my own experience of it back in 2009. Then it was Chris Gayle and the West Indies who put us behind the eight ball, an outing at the Oval I would rather forget!

“So the key will be to hit the ground running in that opener and then to play with a bit more freedom thereafter,” Lee wrote in his column for ICC.

Though, Australia have retained the nucleus of the team which won the ICC T20 World Cup held in the UAE in 2021, a couple of new faces like Tim David and Cameron Green have made the cut.

Much is expected from David and Lee while backing his team to win back-to-back titles said the former would definitley be one of the players to watch out for in the ICC marquee event.

“The fact that Tim David is the new face in the team is an indication of the stability of the defending champions, and a big reason why I think they could do it again and go back-to-back.”

Australia have always been blessed with an array of all-rounders in their team with Marcus Stoinis being one of them.

Lee feels this could be Stoinis’ World Cup.

“I’ve been really impressed by Marcus Stoinis over the last 12 months. He impressed when called upon in the last World Cup, but only bowled in one game and batted in four of the seven. This time around, there’s a chance that we might see more of him with both bat and ball and his form has been great.”

Dwelling on the ‘slow starter’ theory again, Lee said if Australia if can get off to a good start, there is no stopping them.

“It would obviously be a little hypocritical to write off any Australian struggles in the build-up but try to place huge importance on a series win in a different format. Still, a couple of those games involved coming from pretty dire positions to take the win, and psychologically that can only help.

“Between their experience and the talent with both bat and ball, there’s no reason why Australia shouldn’t be right in the mix at the business end of the tournamet,” Lee added.