Australia cricket team captain Steve Smith has mentioned that the all-rounders hold the key to inspiring the team to get their hands on the ICC World T20 trophy. The Aussies open their campaign in the Super 10 of the competition this year against rivals New Zealand, March 18.
Smith's men come into the competition at the back of a three-match T20I series win against South Africa just days ago. The Aussies, who lost in their opening fixture at Durban, came back strong to win their last two fixtures at Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively and clinch the series 2-1.
Ahead of the ICC World T20, the Australian Team, who arrived in Kolkata Saturday, play a warmup match against West Indies at the Eden Gardens, Sunday.
Australia have never won the ICC World T20. They came close to clinching the trophy in the 2010 edition, where they suffered a defeat at the hands of England in the final. Smith feels that this time however, his side has a good chance of bringing home their first World T20 trophy.
"It's the one trophy that eluded us. We want to win every tournament and series that we play in. We are pretty settled," the 26-year-old swashbuckling batsman was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India. "We have got 15 guys who can give this tournament a real shake.
"We played good in South Africa to win that series there. Guys have stepped up and we're in good form. It's going to take us squad mentality to do well in this tournament," Smith added.
Australia, who are entering the competition ranked fifth in the ICC T20 rankings, are drawn alongside New Zealand, Pakistan, a Group A winner and hosts India in Group 2 of the Super 10. Only two teams will make it to the knockout stage.
Former India players Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have admitted that New Zealand will join India in the knockout stages, but Smith feels the Aussies also have the fire power amongst them to progress to the last four of the competition.
"It's just about being positive. We've got a good squad together," Smith continued. "We know what to expect. It's about going out there and making sure we can execute our skills. If we do that well hopefully we will win a lot of other games.
"A lot of our allrounders are bowling extremely well at the moment which helps as well. We can have the power at the back end.
"All our allrounders are very powerful with the bat. That's what you need in T20 cricket. They're doing a good job for us hopefully they will continue to do good job for us," he elaborated.
Check out the 15-man Australia squad for the ICC World T20 2016 here.
