Australia head coach Justin Langer accepted that leaving out Ashton Agar and Kane Richardson against South Africa was a tough call. The Aaron Finch-led team huffed and puffed to a five-wicket victory over South Africa. Chasing a relatively easy target of 119, Australia got to the target with only two balls to spare.
Both Agar and Richardson have been vital for the team’s success in the shortest format for close to two years. While Agar is ranked number sixth in the T20I rankings, Richardson has picked 29 wickets in 26 matches at an impressive economy of 7.29.
"It was a very, very difficult selection," Langer said according to ESPNcricinfo. "But because we went for the 7-4 set-up rather than the 6-5, and we felt that we were very well planned against South Africa, we knew that we wanted to try and make an impact in the powerplay overs, in the first six overs, we've seen that through the IPL. And we also knew the strength of South Africa upfront so, and thankfully it worked yesterday.
The Australian coach further revealed that the team would be flexible in selections and would keep an eye on the conditions before taking a call on playing XI. "We've said from day one to the players and we did it in the last World Cup, we did it to a degree in the last Ashes in England, that we'll just look at the conditions, we'll look at the opposition, we'll look at the match-ups, and we'll make the call that we think is right for the team," Langer said. "It doesn't always work out that way, but with all the information we've got, we'll work through that."