Ricky Ponting, a former Australian cricketer and one of the most famous captains in the game’s history, guessed which eleven players Australia would play in the World Test Championship final against India. The famous Australian said that he thought Scott Boland should make the team if Josh Hazlewood couldn’t play in the big match at the Oval next month.
A couple of injuries in the Australian team have opened the door for Scott Boland, who is backed by former captain Ricky Ponting, to replace Josh Hazlewood, who might not be able to play against India because of an illness. Even though Boland had a bad game against the Indians earlier this year, Ponting thinks his style of bowling will work well in England.
Ricky Ponting decided to keep the top order the same, with Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, and Travis Head. He also thought that Michael Neser, an Australian all-rounder who has played well in country cricket, should be considered.
“I expect Warner to play. I’ve been hearing for the past few months that Warner and Khawaja will play together at the top of the batting order. Three for Marnus Labuschagne, four for Steve Smith, five for Travis Head, six for Cameron Green, seven for Alex Carey, eight for Mitchell Starc, nine for Pat Cummins, and ten for Nathan Lyon. “The person who will replace Hazelwood will be Scott Boland,” Ponting said on the most recent episode of The ICC Review.
I think it’s pretty easy to decide who will bat. Ricky Ponting
While the Australian team is thinking about whether to choose Boland or Neser to replace Hazlewood, Ponting thinks that the top-ranked Test team has all of their batting areas covered. He said that the Aussies were helped a lot by the way Travis Head never gave up and by Cameron Green’s rise in the middle order.
“In the last year, there has only been one real question mark about hitting, and that has been David Warner’s place at the top of the order and how long he will continue to play. With Travis Head doing what he’s been doing in the middle order and Cameron Green really coming into his own in the last year, I think the hitting side of things pretty much picks itself,” he said.
Ricky Ponting said the Australia XI would be:
Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, and Scott Boland if Hazlewood can’t play.