Ricky Ponting has backed in Marcus Stoinis to have a major impact on the World Cup despite the allrounder's slow start to the tournament with bat in hand.
Stoinis fell for 19 in Australia's victory against West Indies at Trent Bridge on Thursday, forming part of an early collapse before Steve Smith (73), Alex Carey (45) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (92) put together a valiant rescue act.
Australia's reigning men's ODI Player of the Year struggled to find his groove at the crease in the lead-in to the tournament, managing scores of 15, 15, 13 and 32 in warm-up games, while he didn't get a hit in their first-up win over Afghanistan.
Stoinis has however pitched in valuable overs with the ball and his value to the side has never been greater given he's the only seam-bowling allrounder in Australia's 15-man squad.
Ponting, who suggested Stoinis could bat as high as No 3 for Australia ahead of the tournament, has been working closely with the right-hander in his role as assistant coach.
"I just like the overall package with him," said Ponting in a interview with cricket.com.au.
"He's probably our best outfielder, you saw what he can do with the ball at the death, he gives us another string to our bow as far as his death bowling is concerned.
"The boys love what he brings to the side.
"I'm working with him a lot on a daily basis and I think he can have a big impact on this World Cup."
Australia's World Cup triumph in 2015 saw multiple fast-bowling allrounders in Shane Watson, Mitch Marsh and James Faulkner all play key roles on home soil, but responsibility has been heaped on Stoinis' broad shoulders alone this year.
Nathan Coulter-Nile, who fell eight runs short of becoming the first No 8 in ODI history to score a ton, has dismissed suggestions he could bat further up the order.
Stoinis has warmed to his batting role in the middle order, while he's also being relied upon as a death-bowling option having thrived in the latter overs during a dominant KFC Big Bash campaign with the Melbourne Stars last summer.
The Western Australian has made meaningful contributions with the bat in recent times, including a couple of important lower-order innings in Australia's comeback series win in India, but the fact Shaun Marsh, one of the ODI team's most consistent performers over the past 12 months, is on the sidelines means every top-order spot will come under the microscope as the tournament progresses.
"Every player goes through a period where he battles a bit for form, but it can turn around really quickly," former ODI star Michael Hussey told cricket.com.au recently.
"(Stoinis) is a crucial member of the team from the bowling side of things, but also his power hitting at the end of an innings can be really important … I'm not stressed about his form or his position in the team at all."
Ponting said Stoinis' presence and ability to clear the pickets were his major strengths and has been helping the right-hander improve how he begins his innings.
Some of those lessons looked to have sunk in on Thursday, Ponting suggested, which made Stoinis rue his dismissal — a mis-timed pull that went straight to mid-wicket - even more.
"If there's been a knock on his batting, it's been that he's been a bit of a shaky nervous starter and takes a lot of balls to get moving," Ponting said.
"(Against the West Indies) he didn't (look nervous) … he was nice and sharp. He hit the ball nicely down the ground, he hit a really good pull shot early on.
"I had a chat to him just after he got out and he was pretty disappointed to get out the way he did. We've been doing a lot of work on that sort of stuff with his batting."