“You’ll see a few pumped boys for the World Cup,” Adam Zampa fires early warning to rivals amidst a run of poor results


“You’ll see a few pumped boys for the World Cup,” Adam Zampa fires early warning to rivals amidst a run of poor results

Adam Zampa

If there is one team you should never count out in an ICC event, then it has to be Australia. The defending T20I World Cup champions have not been at their best in the recent while after a couple of losses against India and England. Aaron Finch and Co. will look to defend their title on home turf, as they open their campaign against New Zealand at the SCG on Saturday.

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Australian wrist spinner Adam Zampa dismissed talks about the dropping intensity levels in the Australian camp, after facing a 2-1 defeat at the hands of India. Moreover, they were on the verge of a series whitewash by England on their home turf, before rain saved their day.

Adam Zampa believes that Australia will peak at the right time, and that the players have saved their best for the marquee event. “I think the intensity of the cricket we’ve played recently has probably dropped slightly due to the fact we are keeping in mind how close the World Cup is,” Zampa said.

“And nothing gets the juices flowing like having a trophy there for the taking. We always want to perform our best when playing for Australia but think you’ll see a few pumped boys for the World Cup,” he added.

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“We all know T20 is a pretty fickle game,” Adam Zampa on the pressure of being the defending champions

Adam Zampa
Adam Zampa

Adam Zampa also downplayed the pressure of being the hosts and the defending champions. Unlike the last edition where Australia were considered as the underdogs, there are a lot of expectation from the hosts this time around.

Adam Zampa reflected on their title-winning campaign last time around, when Australia saved their best cricket for the knockout stages.

Internally we all know T20 is a pretty fickle game. The worst that can happen is we don’t win this thing, the best that can happen is that we defend our title at home at the MCG. Don’t know if we are totally expected to win…but we do understand we should give it a red-hot crack. We have to earn the right to win it again. Last year we did that, we played some crucial cricket at crucial times [and] played our best cricket at the right time towards the end,” he added.

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Australia’s opening fixture against New Zealand could be hampered by rain, as their is a good chance of rainfall on Sunday. The hosts were handed a narrow defeat by India in their only warm-up game. The defending champions have also done a lot of experimentation with their side, and it will be interesting to see the combination they go ahead with against the Kiwis.

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