Ricky Ponting rues lack of aura as Australia crash out of T20 World Cup

Former captain Ricky Ponting says the current Australian side lacked the aura that defined its past teams at global events and termed the country’s early exit from the men’s T20 World Cup as a “really poor campaign”. Speaking on the latest episode of the ICC Review, Ponting said the team on paper did not carry the same presence as previous Australian outfits that dominated ICC tournaments.

“You look at that Australian team on paper, it just doesn’t look to have that sort of aura around it that a lot of other Australian teams have going into ICC events and World Cups,” Ponting said. “You need to have your best players and your most experienced players standing up and winning big moments for you in these tournaments if you want to go ahead and win and Australia haven’t had that.”

The former skipper pointed to underwhelming returns from the top order, including Cameron Green at No.3 and Tim David at No.4 in the latter matches, as well as a collapse against Sri Lanka where Australia lost six wickets for 20 runs in the closing overs. Australia failed to qualify for the Super 8s after suffering a shock 23-run defeat to the Zimbabwe, a result Ponting felt effectively ended their campaign.

“It’s been a really poor campaign, it has to be said. Just losing to Zimbabwe like they did, that’s going to be the game that they’re going to think back and think like that’s our World Cup gone, there and then,” said Ponting. Australia began the tournament with injury concerns, with Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins ruled out and Tim David unavailable at the start.  However, Ponting said the loss to Zimbabwe would be the one that lingers.

Ponting admitted he had expected Sri Lanka to be tough to beat at home and credited them for a clinical run chase against Australia. “I felt Sri Lanka would be difficult to beat at home and that’s certainly the way it turned out. They played really well against Australia. That was an amazing run chase when you look at it. That sort of score is never an easy one to chase down.

Ponting said the former players were disappointed but not critical of the current group. “As a past player, we certainly don’t sit back and bash the current players or talk about them in a negative way when they don’t win. We just want to see our team do well. So, unfortunately, that hasn’t happened over the last couple of weeks. And that’s something that group of players has to live with.” Ponting also dismissed suggestions that Australia do not prioritise the T20 World Cup, insisting that winning ICC titles remains the pinnacle.