Brett Lee backs Australia to claim maiden 20-20 World Cup title

Barring the form of Glenn Maxwell, Australia does not have a lot of positives going into the 20-20 World Cup. They have lost their last two T20I series by 4-1, most of the senior players are short on game time having not played since the Test series against India. Few players participated in the second leg of IPL but their form was not very promising. More so, they were dealt with a reality check on what lies ahead for them after India handed them a thrashing in the warm-up game.

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Despite lagging so much, former Australia pacer Brett Lee is optimistic about Australia going the distance in the showpiece event. While Lee admitted that it won’t be easy for the Aussies, he said the ‘Men in Yellow’ have all the ingredients to succeed in the showpiece event.

“For me, the expectation is that Australia will go and win the tournament. I know they might be high expectations but if you don’t go and set the bar very high, you are not going to succeed.

"We have not had a lot of success in this format -- it is time we changed it and we do have a side that can take it all the way. It obviously won’t be easy, especially when you look at how strong teams like England, India and New Zealand are.”

Lee also backed David Warner to fire for Australia. The pacer said that Warner looks slightly low on confidence but he is a big match player and thrives on such situations. “But this Australian side is loaded with talent and for me, the key is David Warner. I would like to say he is saving the runs for the games that count after his IPL form! He was really harshly dealt with there and it may have knocked some confidence out of him but he thrives on the big stage. Everything should be rosy for him here, class is permanent,” he added.

Lee further said that Australia have a great bowling attack that will test the best batting lineups in the tournament. "I will also put a lot of weight behind Mitchell Starc. There has been some debate in the last year about Starc being past his best but he would be in my team every single time, Josh Hazlewood has had a good IPL and Pat Cummins is a superstar. He is the David Beckham of the team, whatever he touches turns to gold," he added.