New Delhi: Australia have it in them to win the T20 World Cup even without injury absences of leading seamers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Ellis
said on Monday.
A back injury prevented Cummins from making the trip to India while Achilles and hamstring injuries put paid to Hazlewood’s hopes.
As Mitchell Starc has retired from the 20-over format, Australia will be without all three of their premoer seamers at a World Cup for the first time in decade.
The new ball responsibilities now fall on Ellis, Xavier Bartlett and Ben Dwarshuis, with the onus on beong worthy replacements for their far more experienced team-mates.
“We’ve had 18-24 months of cricket together where the big three haven’t been playing and have had big workloads in the Test arena,” he said.
“I actually think we work together really, really well. We’ve all got different skill-sets and can gel together on the night in different phases of the game.
“A squad without ‘Hoff’ (Hazlewood) and Cummo (Cummins) is a strong squad obviously but without them I feel like we’re just as well placed to go deep.”
Australia begin their campaign against Ireland in Colombo on Wednesday where Ellis heads into sans any recent match practice after suffering a hamstring strain bowling for Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League.
He subsequently missed Australia warm-up series against Australia, where they were whitewashed 3-0.
Viewed more as as a specialist death bowler than a powerplay operator, Ellis accepted that he role could change as per demands of the team.
“Obviously you have to take each game, conditions as they come. But losing one of the better white ball bowlers in the world in Hoff, things are always going to have to change,” he said.
“My role will try to be adaptable as much as I can.”
