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Absence of finisher like MS Dhoni in Australian team a concern, says Ricky Ponting

Ponting believes the absence of a finisher like MS Dhoni or Hardik Pandya would hurt Australia's chances at the T20 World Cup.

By Nilavro Ghosh | May 29, 2021 | 2 Min Read

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting spelled out one of his main concerns for the national side ahead of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup on Saturday. Ponting said that the Aussies lacked strength in the lower middle order of their batting lineup. The lack of a finisher like former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni or Hardik Pandya would hurt his side’s chances at the tournament. Ponting, who is the coach of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Capitals (DC) has worked in close quarters with an explosive lower order batter in the form of Rishabh Pant. He believes that an explosive batter who can also keep wickets would be a boon for his national side should such a player be available to them at the T20 World Cup.

“The spot they (Australia) have always been worried about is that finishing role. It’s a very specialist position to be able to go in with three of four overs to go, with 50 runs needed and be able to do it,” Ponting said.

“Dhoni has been in that one spot his whole career and no wonder he’s so good at it. Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard are similar – these guys continually win games of cricket for their country and in the IPL, they’re used to going in batting at those spots,” he added.

CONSISTENCY

Ponting said that the Aussies did not have anyone who was consistently performing in that area. He did mention a few names like Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, and Marcus Stoinis, who could get the job done but he was unsure of their consistency.

“Is it going to be (Glenn) Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh that are going to finish the games, is it going to be (Marcus) Stoinis? I think that’s the area that they’re more worried about,” the World Cup-winning skipper opined.

“I saw Stoinis at Delhi last year, he’s opened the last few years of BBL and done a great job for the Melbourne Stars, but I needed someone that could finish games for us and he won two or three games off his own bat,” he said.

“So, it’s there – but they will get better at it the more they do it. How they find a way for these guys to do it more, I’m not sure.”