Haddin can't find fault in T20 squad

Bowlers who can bat. Batsmen who can bowl. Not a chink in the field.

Australia head into the fifth edition of the ICC World T20 with the most balanced squad assembled according to players past and present.

Wicketkeeper Brad Haddin is the latest player to praise the National Selection Panel for picking a group that seemingly has no weakness.

Haddin along with veteran Brad Hodge guided Australia to a thrilling five-wicket win over South Africa on Wednesday in Durban, calling on all the experience their nearly 40 years of cricket have given them.

Such was Australia’s batting depth on Wednesday, coming in at No.11 was Brad Hogg who has four first-class centuries to his name.

“I think we’ve got a lot of power and we’ve got a lot of flexibility, which is exciting going in to World Cup,” said Haddin following Australia’s victory in the second T20 international in Durban

“We’ve got a really good mix in this squad, and I don’t know if it’s the best team or not, we’ll see after we play the tournament but it’s definitely got a lot of flexibility in it.

“I think it’s structured in a way that we’ve got a lot of senior players and some younger players to complement each other and I think the selectors have done a very, very good job on picking the squad.”

That XI excluded Cameron White, the RYOBI One-Day Cup man of the tournament and Victoria’s leading run-scorer across all formats this summer, plus the injured James Faulkner, owner of the fastest One-Day International century for Australia.

Haddin joins team-mate Shane Watson and former limited-overs legend Andrew Symonds in lauding the 15-man squad set to tackle nine other teams in Bangladesh.

"This is the best squad we've ever assembled in Twenty20 cricket," said Watson, 2012 World T20 Player of the Tournament.

"We've got the most balanced side and balanced (national T20) squad I've ever been involved in.

"We really do have firepower in our batting order, all the way down to No.10.

"We've got high-quality opening bowlers, death bowlers and spinners.

"We have versatility. In all conditions, against any opposition we can match up really well.

"Twenty20 cricket is fickle, but if you have a lot of match-winners in your team you've got more of a chance of it being someone's day."

Watson has been a part of an IPL winning team, a successful Champions League team and even a BBL championship squad, albeit for only one match, and knows what it takes to claim T20 glory.

Symonds echoed Watson’s thoughts on the priceless amount of damaging players Australia possess.

"We got plenty of players that can win games for us," said Symonds.

"We’ve got players in the middle and the bottom of the order, as much as we do David Warner at the top.

"Brad Hodge, an experienced head. Cameron White’s been around a long time. 

"Everything’s covered, [now] we got to get out there and win some games and put some good consistent performances together."

One obstacle in Australia’s quest for the only missing piece of global silverware could be the medical ward.

Mitchell Johnson is having scans on an infected toe, James Faulkner is recovering from a knee injury and Brad Hogg played through a tight hamstring in Durban.

The strength of Australia’s squad is its depth, with all three men afforded capable understudies.

Games of cricket aren’t won on paper. Now it’s up to the performances on the park, like Haddin said, to see just how good this unit really is.