3 reasons why David Warner and Steve Smith's inclusion might do no good to Australia's World Cup chances

2018 was an eventful year for cricket. We saw a new-look Indian pace contingent and a totally different Australian team that we have been exposed to, over the years. In fact, 2018 was a year to remember for Afghanistan but it was a forgettable year for the once mighty Aussies.

All this while we’ve known Australia as a group of competitive players who would do whatever it takes to win the game for their country while staying within the boundaries.

However, on March 28, 2018, everything changed. The whole complexion of the Australian team balance changed and since then we’ve seen them hit the rock-bottom. Following the infamous ball-tampering saga, stalwarts David Warner and Steve Smith were banned for a year and Australia never seemed to recover from the blow of losing two of their best players.

No doubt, Warner and Smith are the golden-boys of Australian cricket and what they did is a punishable offense and in many ways, the current Australian team needs their stalwarts back. Luckily/unluckily (we shall discuss the reasons why) their bans end on April 2019 and it means that they would be available for the World Cup.

In many ways Warner and Smith’s inclusion to the Australian ODI squad could impact their WC chances both, positively and negatively. While the positive reasons are pretty obvious, let’s have a look at the 3 reasons why their inclusion to the squad might do no good to the current Australian set-up and its ICC WC 2019 chances.

The team is out of order on all levels

Warner is an opener and Smith is a number three batsman. Now imagine that both of these players get out in the opening over of the game. The rest of the team would still be the same and as we established earlier, Australian cricket team is in shambles at the moment and the rest of the team will crumble under tense situations like they have, in the recent past.

The bowling attack is being carried by Pat Cummins at the moment and Starc looks woefully out of form at the moment. Their trusted all-rounder in Stoinis isn’t providing those solid finishes towards the back-end of the innings and his death-bowling isn’t as consistent as it used to be. Basically, the day Warner and Smith fire will be the day we’ll see the Australian team walk-out with confidence.

The limited-squad isn’t exactly on a winning spree at the moment and any further damage to their confidence and morale will put Aussies’ WC chances in a precarious position. In my opinion, stick with the current team and have Warner and Smith (depending on his availability) as the reserves as the team morale and confidence always trumps an individual player.

Setting in with the team would be tough

The inclusion of Warner and Smith would hurt the morale of the team which is already running low on confidence. It would send out the wrong message to the youngsters because 2 players who haven’t featured on the international stage in over a year would be preferred over 2 batsmen (probably) who gave their best during a team crisis.

The message would be loud and clear and it would signify that the team management trusts the returning duo more than the current crop of players. It would also build up a sense of insecurity among the players over their place in the team and hence, the fear of failure would kick in, which in no way is good news for any world-class side.

When you enter a major tournament, you want your players to be in a good mental space and as controversial as it may sound, the inclusion of Warner and Smith will do no good to the team’s morale and confidence.

Lack of game time

Okay, so it’s time to face the harsh truth. Warner and Smith haven’t faced top quality international bowlers in a long time and even though they have been part of a few T20 leagues around the globe. No doubt, they are world-class batsmen but they are humans too and over the course of one year, a lot has changed. For instance, the Indian pace attack has grown to be one of the very best pace batteries in recent times and Warner’s old nemesis, Dale Steyn is well and truly back to his best, clocking 140+ on a consistent basis.

What’s even more troublesome for the former Australian captains is that this year’s ICC CWC 2019 will be a round-robin tournament and it means that Smith and Warner will be up against the likes of Mohammad Amir, Jasprit Bumrah, Kagiso Rabada, Rashid Khan and other world-class bowlers after a long gap which is not at all a positive sign for the returning stalwarts. Moreover, there is no guarantee that David and Steve will be at their very best from the word go.

With both of them not being allowed to feature in the BBL and the IPL (2018), facing the best in the business won’t be a walk in the park for them. With the Australian batting line-up in tatters at the moment, expectations will be high from David and Steve, and living up to them would mean that they would be under a colossal amount of pressure.

Lack of game time only makes their return a bit tougher and it will be all the more difficult for David Warner as Smith’s World Cup chances are in jeopardy at the moment, owing to his elbow injury. While there’s no denying that Australia do need the banned duo, WC might just not be the place where they need them.

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