Australia crashing out was no surprise

For somebody like me who’s grown up watching Australia as such a dominant force in world cricket, it took a while to come to terms with the fact that this was not the same Australia. For until now, in every world tournament, Australia would be my firm favourites, even when going through a slump, because I thought they had mastered most aspects of the game. But the kind of ability with which they wanted to replace certain players who have retired hasn’t quite come in. That is why I thought this Australian team was going to be a very weak defender of their title, and it turned out just like that.