Brad Hogg picks Australia's ideal playing XI for T20 World Cup 2021

Australia named a strong squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup on Thursday. Though a few of their first-choice players pulled out of the West Indies and Bangladesh tours, they returned to the team named for the mega event to be played in the UAE and Oman. Aaron Finch is set to lead the side and clearly, the Men in Yellow, despite losing the last five T20I series, are looking a force to reckon with, with their star players featuring together after a long time.

Former Australia cricketer Brad Hogg has now picked his ideal playing XI of the team for the tournament. The top four of the line-up pick themselves. Skipper Aaron Finch and David Warner will open the innings while Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell follow them. This is an extremely strong top four and if they get going, it will be difficult to stop the Aussies in the World Cup.

However, while speaking on his Youtube channel, Hogg admitted that the real issues are with the finishers of the team. Even on their previous two tours, Australia couldn’t find a player who could tonk the ball at will. Brad Hogg though went with the in-form Mitchell Marsh to bat at five. Marsh was the only shining light for Australia on their last two tours where he batted at three. But Hogg felt that the all-rounder should’ve played a few innings at five.

Hogg picks Inglis ahead of Wade

Interestingly, the chinaman spinner went with the uncapped Josh Inglis for a spot at number six to finish the game ahead of Matthew Wade. Wade led Australia in Finch’s absence on Bangladesh and though he batted in the middle-order, the wicketkeeper-batsman couldn’t impress with his skills. Having said that, Brad Hogg also admits that Inglis is also an unknown entity when it comes to playing in the sub-continent.

After a decent top six, Hogg picked Ashton Agar, the spin-bowling all-rounder, and Adam Zampa as their two spinners before going for the pace trio in Tests. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins are back to playing together and they can intimidate any batting line-up on their day. Hazlewood’s stocks rose after his brilliant performances in the last 8 T20Is he played.

Here’s Brad Hogg’s Australia playing XI for T20 World Cup 2021:

Aaron Finch (C), David Warner, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis (WK), Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood