T20 World Cup: The characters who shaped Australia’s dream | Cricket News – Times of India

Australia, indomitable Australia. Habitual winners. Kings of tournament play. And now, T20 pioneers. The Justin Langer-coached side turned usual T20 data schematics on its head, trusting in proven, time-tested talent to come through regardless of format and current form.
Australia refused to blindly trust the inflexible modern logic of matchup play. They instead punted on the prospect of some magic. Unlike other teams, they made the data work for them instead of the other way around. In doing so, they proved yet again that in cricket, there is still no substitute for the once-in-a-generation match-winner who can deliver when it matters most.
Coming into the tournament, they refused to dump some top stars in spite of either advancing age or indifferent touch, or both, and went home champions. In a batter-heavy side, the lack of runs from Steve Smith and Aaron Finch didn’t even matter.
TOI rates some stalwarts behind Australia’s win against New Zealand in the final, and in the tournament as a whole…
DAVID WARNER (5/5)
Player of the series

(Photo: Reuters/ICC)
The world doubted his ability but Warner came through. Given the odds against him, the constant scrutiny and criticism, the prolonged lack of runs, the impatience shown by his IPL franchise — which dumped him first as captain and then player — Australia’s decision to back
him was genius.
Warner ended as the second-highest runscorer in the tournament after Babar Azam, with 289 runs from 7 games at a strike rate of 146.70. His 38-ball 53 spearheaded the tallest chase in a T20 World Cup final. It’s not a miracle but a testimony to the batter’s ability.
His skipper Finch said he knew as much. “Without a word of lie, I promise you, I called Justin Langer a few months ago and said, ‘Don’t worry about Davey, he’ll be man of the tournament. He’s one of the all-time great batters. And he’s a fighter. When his back is against the wall, that’s when you get the very, very best of David Warner.”
Who knew? Not SRH, certainly!
MITCHELL MARSH (4/5)
Player of the final

(Photo: PTI/ICC)
The boy who promised much, Australia’s nearly-there man for years, finally came of age at the most crucial juncture. Marsh was the unlikely but most important hero, taking on the challenge in the final with an unbeaten 50-ball 77 which knocked the wind out of Kiwi sails.
Importantly, he destroyed the spinners and turned Australia’s one weakness into a strength. He averaged 61.66 in the tournament too, at a strike rate of 146.82. Again, the management knew. Finch revealed that six months ago in the Caribbean, Marsh was pulled aside and informed that he would bat at No. 3, ahead of Smith.
The results were mixed coming into the UAE. In this tournament, he was dropped against England, and that probably stoked the fire in the belly.
“I screamed into my pillow,” Fox Sports quoted Marsh as saying.
Finch said, “He’s the nicest person and a special player. To be able to put up with critics for so long…in any format…for him to keep coming back and improving shows how much of a quality person he is.”
ADAM ZAMPA (4.5)
Innovator of the tournament

(Photo: ANI/ICC)
The second-highest wicket-taker behind Hasaranga, with 13 scalps. The boy-punk leggie with razor-sharp intelligence who improved his technique to lead Australia’s spin challenge.
He owned the middle overs with expert craft and a googly to die for. He also dismissed Martin Guptill in the final.
Zampa got a wicket every 12.4 balls and then declared, “I’ve always been underestimated. Even after this tournament, there’ll be another series and once that comes up, I’ll be underestimated again. I thrive off that.”
There seems to be a distinctly Aussie pattern emerging here: Warner, Marsh, Zampa, all trying to right the wrong!
JOSH HAZLEWOOD (3.5)
The pacer of the final

(Photo: AFP/ICC)
In a field which included Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Pat Cummins, that’s saying something. Having honed and perfected his T20 craft for Chennai Super Kings, Hazlewood was primed and ready for the tournament.
In the final, Finch rated Hazlewood’s bowling in the Powerplay (figures of 3-0-11-1 in that period, with the wicket of Daryl Mitchell), which restricted NZ to 32/1, as the turning point of the game.
Hazlewood took two more scalps in the final, of course, and was also the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. And, oh, he was largely ignored as a T20 prospect by Australia until four months back!
MARCUS STOINIS & MATTHEW WADE

(Photo: Reuters/ICC)
The miracle man. Dropped after the 2019 World Cup, Stoinis’ dream was to hone his abilities as a finisher and be the best in the world in that department. Wade said he plays every game like it is his last. Together, they created mayhem, stealing the semifinal from under Pakistan’s nose and
ending South Africa’s run.
Wade’s three successive sixes against Shaheen Afridi was the moment of the tournament.
“A lot of people wrote us off,” Wade said. “But internally we spoke about how we were going to be the first Australian team to achieve this (title win).”
AARON FINCH (3/5)
The endearing leader

(Photo: Reuters/ICC)
It helped that he was the lucky mascot, too. In a tournament so totally dominated by the toss, Finch wins extra marks just for winning 6 out of 7 flips of the coin, ensuring Australia could chase most times and bat in the dew.
Finch was the first to admit he got lucky.
“The toss did play a big factor,” he said, “I tried to play it down as much as I could because I thought at some point I’m going to lose and we’re going to bat first. I don’t know how I did it. Maybe it was just fate. In T20s, you need a bit of luck.”
The stars, truly, were aligned Australia’s way.