Cricket-Australia set to savour T20 World Cup defence on home soil

MELBOURNE : On home pitches and with strength across the board, Australia are in the box seat to become the first team to win back-to-back T20 World Cups in a country that has eagerly awaited its chance to stage the global showpiece.

Australia were to host the tournament for the first time in 2020 before COVID-19 intervened, leaving the seventh edition to unfold in the United Arab Emirates and Oman last year after being relocated from India.

The 2020 miss was a blessing in disguise for Aaron Finch's underdogs, who swiped the nation's first title from under the noses of more fancied rivals in the UAE.

A year on, Australia will now relish the chance to defend their championship in front of heaving crowds basking in spring sunshine and a post-COVID glow.

Sri Lanka, the 2014 champions, open the tournament in Geelong on Sunday against African minnows Namibia, the first jousts of the qualifying phase where eight teams are battling for four vacant spots in the next round.

The Super 12's then start with a bang in Sydney on Oct. 22 when the hosts meet New Zealand in a rematch of last year's final.

With 14 of the 15 members of Australia's triumphant 2021 squad returning, they will be hard to beat in their own backyard.

Yet the unpredictability of T20 cricket means most of the 16 nations will fancy their chances of reaching the semi-finals.

India, the world's top-ranked T20 side, should be among them, despite the hammer blow of losing pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah to injury.

Their sold-out clash at the 100,000-seat Melbourne Cricket Ground against arch-rivals Pakistan, semi-finalists last year, could prove pivotal for both teams.

A new-look England, captained by Jos Buttler, will seek to maintain the standards set under former skipper Eoin