Australia vs Zimbabwe today : Ponting confident of winning start

The world is busy guessing whether Australia will be able to successfully defend the World Cup and make it four in-a-row but skipper Ricky Ponting said on Sunday that it was more about lifting the Cup than defending it.

Addressing the media on the eve of their opening World Cup match against Zimbabwe, Ponting said: “We are here to win the World Cup for the fourth successive time. There is no question of defending the Cup. It’s a new tournament and everything starts afresh from tomorrow,” he said.

“The tag of favourites was given to us by the media and now that we aren’t being considered favourites, it doesn’t bother us a wee bit. All this hype about being the number one team and all is never discussed by us in the team.

Frankly, we weren’t considered favourites even in 2007, but we did win the Cup. So our job is to try and prepare as well as we can and give it our best shot on the field.”

Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura also exuded confidence, saying if his team played to the best of its ability, it could upset Australia. “We have trained over the last four to five weeks. We need to play our best cricket. Everyone needs to play the role assigned to them. We are confident of doing well,” he said. Coach Alan Butcher echoed Chigumbura’s sentiments.

“They have four pacers and we have a fair idea how they bowl. If we play our best cricket and they don’t, we may have a chance,” he said.

Refusing to divulge further strategies, Ponting said his team was ready to counter Zimbabwe’s spin attack.

“They have mostly opened with Ray Price and have bowled 40 overs of spin in the innings. We had a discussion regarding this in the team meeting on Saturday and we are ready to counter their spinners. We aren’t taking any team lightly,” he said.

Ponting feels there has been unnecessary hype over the selection of four fast bowlers in the Australian squad. “I think people are forgetting that we also have Jason Krejza, Steve Smith and David Hussey — all spinners. If you look at India’s composition against Bangladesh in the opening game, they too had three pacers and one frontline spinner being supported by parttimers.

We will look to do the same,” he said. On playing his 40th World Cup match on Monday — the highest by any player — Ponting said: “I have been sidelined for four-five weeks with injury and it feels good to be back with the team. Frankly, I haven’t thought much about eclipsing Glenn McGrath.”