Australia could unleash an all-out pace attack as they attempt to secure the one piece of silverware which eludes them.
George Bailey’s men will open their Twenty20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan in Dhaka on Sunday night (AEDT) in search of a triumph to cap a exceptional summer in which they emphatically reclaimed the Ashes and took down South Africa, the world’s premier Test nation, on their home soil.
They’ll enter the match minus strike bowler and Ashes hero Mitchell Johnson, who will miss the tournament after picking up a toe infection in Cape Town.
His absence, however, hasn’t deterred Australia from sticking to their plan of blasting opponents out with pure pace.
That will involve a pace contingent spearheaded by short-form star Mitchell Starc, rising allrounder Nathan Coulter-Nile and Johnson’s replacement, the fiery Doug Bollinger.
Wickets on the sub-continent generally favour spin bowlers, but Bailey indicated it was unlikely the pre-tournament favourites would opt for both left-arm tweaker Brad Hogg and young legspinner James Muirhead – at first at least.
“Your best bowlers are always your best bowlers,” Bailey said.
“What we do have with those three guys is proper pace – there is not that many guys around the world that can bowl 140-145km/hr and I think we have got three of them in our side so that is pretty handy.
“What we like over here is pace and being able to swing the ball.
“(Bollinger) rushes up, he’s a big fella, he’s busy at the crease and he bangs it down pretty quick. He’s never too much fun to face.”
Weighing on Bailey’s mind is the dangers present in Australia’s group in the Super 10 phase of competition.
While Bangladesh, who snuck into the group by the skin of their teeth, aren’t expected to make much of an impact despite boasting home support, Australia are aware that even one loss could spell the end of their campaign.
T20 powerhouses India, Pakistan and the West Indies round out the group, with only the top two progressing to the semi-finals.
Bailey was cautious when predicting what to expect from Pakistan, who are coming off a confidence-boosting Asia Cup triumph but lost their opening match to India on Friday night.
“Traditionally Pakistan are enigmatic the way they play, you never know what you are going to get,” he said.
“You prepare for their best. I think we saw a bit of that in the Asia Cup, their best is unbelievable.
“We have just got to try and put them under enough pressure that they start to make some poor decisions.”
