ICC World Cup 2019: Ricky Ponting confirms Australia's keeper for the tournament

The Australian team had faced a very rough time in 2018 after their premier batting duo of Steve Smith and David Warner was banned for their roles in the ball tampering saga in South Africa in March of that year. Post their bans, Australia had a tough time in all the three formats, but in ODIs, they were beaten black and blue by almost every opposition whether at home or away.

First England whitewashed them in their own backyard and then later in the year, India won their first bilateral ODI series in Australia. However, in 2019, Australia has made an amazing comeback winning eight ODIs on a trot against India and Pakistan away from home. They beat India in India 3-2 and whitewashed Pakistan 5-0 in the UAE, in their last ODI series before the ICC World Cup 2019.

Ricky Ponting names the wicketkeeper for Australia in the World Cup 2019

The Australian team has more or less found their squad to defend their World Cup title in England and Wales coming May. With Steve Smith and David Warner back in the team and Aaron Finch finding some form, the team’s assistant coach Ricky Ponting has now confirmed the wicketkeeper for the team.

“Alex Carey offers the best package as keeper. He’s dangerous at the top of the order or late in the innings because he does score 360 degrees, he’s a deceptively hard hitter of the ball and for mine, he’s just the right character, he’s the right person that you want to have in your team. I actually think he’s got really good strong leadership qualities as well,” Ponting was quoted as saying to cricket.com.au.

Ponting backed the 27-year-old to don the wicketkeeping gloves in England this summer and also backed him to lead the team. He said, “If anything happened to Finch through the World Cup or leading into the World Cup, then I think he’s really well-equipped to lead the side, even though he’s still relatively inexperienced and never captained Australia before. I like the look of him.”

Australia’s chief selector Trevor Hohns recently took the names of Tim Paine, Matthew Wade and Peter Handscomb as the other options, but Ponting felt that Carey is the best bet given the time he has spent with the team.

“I think it’s too late now to be making those changes on your keeper. On the back of that, he’s a very, very good cricketer. So, I’ve got him in my starting XI for sure,” Ponting mentioned.

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