Damien Martyn isn’t having any of Mohammad Kaif’s sentiments on Australia’s exit from the T20 World Cup. The 2021 Champions got ousted from the tournament after yesterday’s Zimbabwe vs Ireland Group B match was abandoned due to rain. This was the second time in the 10 editions of the T20 World Cups that Australia failed to progress past the league stage. The Aussies began with a comfortable win against Ireland, but defeats to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka pushed them to the brink of elimination. Once ZIM vs IRE was officially called off, Australia had to pack their bags and take the flight back home.
Kaif, the former Indian batter, took to X to point out the ‘mighty Aussies’, recalling how, since the 2023 World Cup, the Australians have yet to win an ICC tournament. They finished as semi-finalists at last year’s Champions Trophy and runners-up at the 2025 World Test Championship final. Kaif even claimed that had Hardik Pandya played the final on November 19 in Ahmedabad, the outcome would’ve been different.
“Mighty Aussies they were called after winning the 2023 50-overs World Cup. After that, they had a sharp fall. 2024 World T20, 2025 Champions Trophy, 2025 World Test Championship – they were not Mighty. If Hardik Pandya had played the Ahmedabad final in 2023, the Aussies would have lost there too,” Kaif posted.
Martyn, who recently recovered from an induced coma after suffering from meningitis, brought Kaif back down to earth, subtly highlighting the gulf between India and Australia in terms of their trophy cabinets. Australia is the most successful ODI team of all time, winning a record six World Cups and two Champions Trophy titles. Besides, they have won the T20 World Cup and the WTC once, and Martyn ensured he reminded Kaif of Australia’s dominance.
“Can’t be great forever. But the cabinet looks pretty good. It will turn again,” he said. “Will never catch our record haul of trophies,” he wrote in reply to a post.
Martyn himself is a two-time World Cup champion, having won the trophy in 1999, 2003 and 2007 as part of Australia’s reign at the top. Kaif, meanwhile, was part of India’s squad that reached the final of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa, and of course, played a once-in-a-lifetime knock in the final of the 2002 NatWest Trophy the year before.
