World Cup 2019: Allan Border rates Australia as the “Real Deal” after Saturday’s performance

Australia’s first-ever World Cup-winning captain Allan Border knows a thing or two about making up a champion squad. His Aussie side back in 1987 constituting some absolute legends of the game with likes of David Boon, Steve Waugh and Geoff Marsh. They went on to lift the World Cup four more times after that, in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015.

As they aim to defend the title which they won on home soil four back under the leadership of Michael Clarke, Border reckons they really a big deal right now. He also complimented how the side managed to get over New Zealand despite the big names failing with the bat.

“After a gentle start, Australia now looks the real deal and the win against New Zealand has brought back that old familiar feeling that often leads to a World Cup trophy. This was a very impressive win because they did it the hard way. In this tournament, they have relied on Aaron Finch, David Warner and Steve Smith at the top of the order to get runs but all of a sudden, they had to dig deep – and to come through that is a very good sign.

New Zealand must be amazed. It cannot be often that you get a hat-trick, see Smith, Finch and Warner in the shed cheaply and take a catch like Guptill did and still be on the wrong end of the result. That says a lot about Australia right now,” Border said in his column for the ICC.

Starc will be in my all-time ODI XI

Mitchell Starc has made a stellar and palpable difference in the team. He already has picked up 22 wickets in the tournament and currently has 46 World Cup scalps in just 16 games. He is on the verge of becoming only the fifth cricketer ever to pick 50 wickets in this tournament, joining a bunch of elite names in Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath, Lasith Malinga and Wasim Akram. This is what the former Aussie cricketer had to say about Starc.

“You would have to pick him in your all-time Australia ODI side because of what he does in the big games. There are lots of other options out there but in the big games, he stands up. He has come to the boil at the perfect time and Australia now look a strong contender to win it, which is unbelievable when you look at how they were struggling six months ago,” he mentioned.