The runs flowed in the just-concluded Indian Premier League tournament. But Usman Khawaja does not expect a Caribbean run-fest in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup.
The tournament, which will also see matches being played in the United States, begins on Saturday in Dallas, Texas.
But speaking to the local media yesterday during an Amazon Prime promotion at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, the Australia opening batter said past experience suggests bowlers will thrive in the tournament.
“I’ve watched a lot of CPL (Caribbean Premier League) and even there, you get a lot of low-scoring games. I can only go on what I see. If they do produce batting wickets, great, I’m all for it…But going from the past I’d expect them to be lower scoring particularly than what we’ve seen in the IPL.”
Khawaja, known principally for his 73 Test matches rather than his nine T20 Internationals, has also played four of his 40 One-Day Internationals in the Caribbean. And drawing on that experience, he added: “What West Indies have shown in the past is that the wickets can be quite different depending on where you play.
“I’ve played on the Guyana wicket before and it’s not known as a high-scoring ground, and then you play in Barbados where you actually do get a nicer wicket. But as the tournament goes the wickets can change.
“There’s a lot of spin in these wickets a lot of the time and they’re slower and they provide different wickets than what you get in India, so I’m not sure we’re going to get consistently high-scoring…in this tournament.”
Asked who he thought might win the tournament, while noting the “fickle” nature of T20 cricket, Khawaja went with his own team and possibly the Caribbean hosts.
“I’ve got to say Australia,” he said. “I think we’ve proven that we’re always there and thereabouts in the knockout tournaments…We won the T20 World Cup a couple years ago; we’re always there.”
But he added: “You know the Windies have a great T20 team. They have exceptional T20 players and being at home might be something that they relish, knowing the grounds, knowing the wickets, knowing the dimensions, having home crowd support. Actually I think they’re going to do really, really well.”
However, Khawaja said he also expected teams like defending champions England, India and Pakistan to be “there, thereabouts.” As for standout players in the tournament, he thinks conditions could be ideal for Afghanistan skipper and star leg-spinner Rashid Khan.
“Rashid Khan’s been an unbelievable T20 bowler around the world. I think the wickets may suit him,” Khawaja said. “I think it might be tough batting wickets at times, spinning wickets. If you’ve got a bowler like that, it’s hard to go past him.”
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