Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt said that the current Australian side has many weaknesses and looks like a weak team as well. Butt also added that Australia do not have a strong batting unit or a quality spin attack to win the mega event. He feels that Australia would have looked like a much stronger unit had they added senior players like Usman Khawaja and veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon to their squad as well.

“Australia don’t have the combination that can win a World Cup. Yes, it’s cricket after all, and anything can happen, but they are not a contender to win the World Cup. It is quite evident that this isn’t the same mighty Australian team of the past. They have had scores of 199 and 177 so far. Their batting is weak, and to make matters worse, they lack quality spinners as well,” Butt said in his latest YouTube video.”They should have picked Nathan Lyon. Usman Khawaja is a fantastic player, and he should have definitely been part of the squad. Excluding him was a poor decision,” he added.

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However, Australia faced a six-wicket loss to India in their opening encounter of the 2023 World Cup. They again failed to win in the next clash against South Africa, facing a 134-run defeat. Their batting let them down in both games, as they were bowled out for 199 and 177 against India and South Africa, respectively.

“When you look at Australia’s batting, they have more all-rounders than pure batters. Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, and Mitchell Marsh are all all-rounders and not genuine batters. Then there is Josh Inglis, who is a keeper-batter,” Salman Butt concluded. “They just rely on Marnus Labuschagne, David Warner, and Steve Smith, who are the only three genuine batters in their lineup. Even in that, Labuschagne isn’t a very effective batter in white-ball cricket. Travis Head’s absence has had a big impact on their chances.”