Even as their bete noir Ricky Ponting was being savaged by the English media after his team's ignominious exit from the T20 World Cup, the Aussie skipper was not about to tip traditional enemies England to win the tournament.
Even as their bete noir Ricky Ponting was being savaged by the English media after his team's ignominious exit from the T20 World Cup, the Aussie skipper was not about to tip traditional enemies England to win the tournament.
"India have a very good chance of winning," Ponting told disappointed local media persons, who were hoping he would say he fancied England's chances after their comprehensive win over Pakistan.
Ponting's picks
"West Indies can be very dangerous; we saw what the Sri Lankans can do if they get conditions that suit their spin bowling; South Africa have a very well-rounded side in this form of the game," Ponting said.
"I think the winner will probably come from one of these four."
The English media has gone to town lambasting the Australians after their crushing six-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka on Monday.
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"Men from a land going down and under, woeful Aussies are dumped out of Word Cup as Ponting's flops struggle to escape their slump" shrieked another.
A third asked cheekily: "So Ricky, got anything special lined up before the Ashes start?" whereas another posed the question: "What do you call an Aussie at the Twenty20?" and answered "A spectator".
A tabloid writer started his report with: "Australia entered the World Twenty20 hall of shame last night after they were dumped out of the tournament at the group stages by the brilliant Sri Lankans.
Long nets
"Needing victory to stand any chance of reaching the Super Eights, Ricky Ponting's bedraggled side were condemned to a six-wicket defeat with an over to spare.
"They now face the unappetizing prospect of a week's naughty-boy nets in Leicestershire as they seek to turn their tour around in time for next month's Ashes."
A reporter ridiculed the Australians' having to stay in Leicester waiting for the Ashes to start "twiddling their thumbs" while another wrote: "Ricky Ponting won a dream holiday a fortnight in Leicester."
He added: "The Oz skipper revealed his players were cheering when England came a cropper against no-hopers Holland, but they are laughing from the other side of their faces now.
"Beaten by six wickets against Sri Lanka, the humiliated Aussies have been dumped out of the slugfest in the first round along with pub teams Scotland and Bangladesh.
"And now they must spend two weeks licking their wounds before the Ashes holed up in Leicester."
Ponting had difficulty explaining his team's disappointing performance.
"I can't really explain why things haven't gone well for us in this competition because our preparation leading up to the first game was spot-on and our attitude has been good all the way through.
"But when it came to the big moments, we haven't quite been with it and we've made too many mistakes in this game, which have let other teams in."
Monday's defeat was Australia's fifth T20 loss in a row.
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