T20 World Cup: Justin langer wanted Andrew Symonds in coaching set-up – Australian head coach Justin Langer wanted Andrew Symonds to be part of his coaching staff, but the former all-rounder couldn’t take up the position owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Langer was appointed head coach after Darren Lehmann and has often asked his former teammates to join for short stints time and again, with Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh all having toured with the team.
T20 World Cup: Andrew Symonds refuses Australia’s mentorship role due to Covid-19 restrictions
Speaking to Fox Sports ahead of the T20 World Cup, former Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds revealed that he was approached by Justin Langer to be part of Australia’s coaching set-up.
“Justin Langer is the man who contacted me. Because he’s had Ponting, Hussey and Steve Waugh went on the Ashes, they were just trying to get players who had played different types of cricket and had extended periods of success in and around the group and a fresh face,” he said.
T20 World Cup: Andrew Symonds who enjoyed a storied yet controversial career said that he would have jumped at the opportunity if it were feasible and was unable to do so due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I was really excited to go on that and honoured. I said, ‘I can’t believe you’ve asked me to go.’ I certainly wasn’t expecting that looking at the players who had done it,” he said.
Andrew Symonds was one of Australia’s many stalwarts during their golden generation, winning the World Cup in 2003 and 2007. He was also one of Australia’s first IPL stars alongside Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, enjoying spells with the Deccan Chargers and the Mumbai Indians.
Also Read: T20 World Cup: Marcus Stoinis feels he is ready to bowl in warm-up game against India
T20 World Cup: Covid-19 robbed Justin Langer of Andrew Symonds in his coaching set up
T20 World Cup: While Australia did fall short in the T20 World Cup during his time, Symonds believes that the current team could win it if they play together as a team. He said, “They’ve got to play together. If they start winning as a unit, you end up with an extra player sometimes if you can really create that X-factor.”
Symonds added, “We saw back in the day opposition teams started guessing and panicking. I think that’s one of the ways that Australia can earn that back. They need to trust each other, work together and then inch by inch slowly start to create that again, win the close games, the 50/50 moments by being a unit, working together and being smarter.”
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