Fall of the mighty

The recent defeat of Australia in England at Old Trafford shows that everything is not honky dory with the world’s number one cricket team. The tour to England has been a disastrous for the Australian cricket team this year as they have been unable to win even a single one-day international (ODI).

By winning the ODI series 4-0 against Australia, the English team has made it clear that it is a serious contender for the world cup title. The bowling of England team has been exceptional as they deprived the Australian star-studded batting line up an opportunity to pile up competitive score in all the matches. The batters too have done well at times by chasing the target.

For Australia the defeat has been the worst in their 40-year history of ODI. Though the defeat has not hampered their position, the Australians continue to be number one team in ODI (50-over game).

Before their complete surrender against England, the Michael Clarke team had to really struggle to square ODI series against the depleted West Indies.

Now all eyes will be on Australia that is girding up to play against Pakistan.

The retirement of some great players, including leg spinner Shane Warne, batter Gilchrists and others at a time, have a telling impact on the Australian team. Though packed with young talent, the team continues to struggle to be at the top in the ODIs, Test and T20.

But it is too early to write the Australians off as an also-ran.

Clarke has already accepted that they will work hard to be on the top of all formats of the game. So Pakistan has to be ready for a whacking. An injured Australians may come back hard on the Pakistan cricket team to prove a point about their presence in the world cricket.

(A stay-at-home mother, Khanam loves to write on cricket.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Okhla Times.