No better practice than IPL for T20 World Cup: Justin Langer

Justin Langer, the head coach of the Australian cricket team, feels that the Indian Premier League (IPL) would have been the perfect platform for their side to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup. The IPL was scheduled to get underway on March 29, but with the massive coronavirus outbreak globally, it’s not known when the cash-rich tournament will get underway.

The World Cup in Australia has also come under clouds due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Langer, also a former Aussie batsman, was looking forward to playing the T20 event in India, but the recent scenario has turned things around in a dramatic way.

“Before this crisis started to unravel, we were absolutely determined for our guys to play the IPL. Because with the T20 World Cup coming up, there’s no better grounding, no better practice, no better tournament for them to get ready for that,” Langer was quoted as saying in foxsports.co.au.

The adverse situation has forced Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to call for a 21-day lockdown until April 14. The start of the IPL was earlier postponed to April 15, but in the current scenario, the tournament authorities have found themselves in a fix.

“But obviously things have changed a lot. The health of not only our individual players, but also our country and India as a whole is paramount here,” he stated.

Justin Langer not too fussed about team selection

Langer doesn’t wish to clutter his mind with team selection for the World Cup. The southpaw said that the Aussies have a settled unit and only a couple of spots are remained to be filled.

“In terms of selection, I’m not too stressed about it … one or two positions in our World Cup side are up for grabs. It’s a very, very settled team. We played great cricket against South Africa,” Langer added.

Australia recently beat South Africa 2-1 in the three-match T20I series, though they got whitewashed 0-3 in the ODIs. Prior to that Aaron Finch and Co didn’t have much trouble in rolling over Sri Lanka and Pakistan at home. The Aussies are second in ICC’s rankings for the best T20I teams. With 269 points, they are one point shy of Pakistan’s tally.