Australia's IPL 2024 dominance a warning to Rohit Sharma's India as old nemesis gear up strongly for T20 World Cup
Hindustan TimesMarcus Stoinis began IPL 2024 tepidly, with 46 runs in his first three innings. Marcus Stoinis and Travis Head are among the many Australians who are in prime form ahead of the T20 World Cup in June 2024 The 34-year-old is a veteran of 265 T20 games, including 59 for Australia. More than the impressive quantum of runs, the left-handed opener has been the most impactful batter in the competition, striking at 216 runs per 100 balls; he has blasted 39 fours and 18 sixes in 150 deliveries, extending a purple patch that netted him centuries in the final of the World Test Championship and the final of the 50-over World Cup, both against India last year. Australia have been India’s nemesis in tournament finals at all levels – senior men, junior men and senior women – and while it will be fanciful to predict another Australia-India final at the T20 World Cup in Bridgetown on June 29, Rohit Sharma will have taken more than casual note of the form of Australia’s key players. Cameron Green has also been disappointing for RCB, which means a reasonable chunk of the expected T20 World Cup side has yet to fire on all cylinders, but as they say, class will out and it’s surely only a matter of time before Warner, who will retire from international cricket after the World Cup, and the rest are back in the thick of things.