NEW DELHI: Australia captain Mitchell Marsh on Thursday expressed confidence in his side's depth, backing the squad to cope with the absence of frontline pacers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood at the T20 World Cup, which gets underway on Saturday.

Cummins has been sidelined for the tournament due to a back strain, while Hazlewood is set to miss the opening phase after sustaining an Achilles issue.

"I think we've got a lot of bases covered. One of the great things about Pat and Josh especially, being all three format players, is that we've been able to build a lot of depth within our squad and the guys that have come in have played a lot of cricket for our group," Marsh said during Captains’ Briefing ahead of the World Cup in Colombo.

Australia look to spin strength at T20 World Cup

Marsh said he expects Australia's spin attack to play a decisive role in Sri Lankan conditions, noting that the surfaces traditionally offer plenty of assistance to slow bowlers.

"We've got a lot of confidence in them to go out there and do the job when required and then we'll just pick teams based on the conditions. Matthew Kuhnemann has been great for us.

"We've also got Adam Zampa and then we've got a few spinning all-rounders, like most teams will," he added.

Marsh unfazed by Pakistan whitewash

Australia's preparation for the World Cup was far from ideal after they were swept 3-0 by Pakistan in an away T20I series, but Marsh played down the setback, insisting it would have little bearing on the tournament.

"Yeah, look, Pakistan was Pakistan. We had a few guys missing and we came here with a long lead-in, a good training session. We have a practice game ahead and then a long build-in to our game. So, we will be very well prepared for our first game," he said.

'A tricky draw'

Australia are placed in Group B alongside Ireland, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Oman. Marsh termed it a tricky draw but said his side has the wherewithal to ace the challenge.

"Yeah, we've got great respect for all the teams that we're going to be playing against. Over the last 18 months, I feel we've been one of the most consistent sides in the world. We come to this World Cup really confident, knowing that conditions will be different at times.

"But we've got guys that have experienced that all over the world," he said.

Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards said they are looking to play against India at Ahmedabad.

"We're just obviously very excited. All the groups are strong in their own right. Playing against India at Ahmedabad, that's obviously going to be quite a big event," said Edwards.

Jatinder Singh, the Oman captain, hoped that the lessons learned from Duleep Mendis, their head coach and former Sri Lankan captain, will stand them in good stead in the tournament.

"We have a strong team, but we believe we have to play fearless and positive cricket. That is how we can go to the next round. Regarding

Duleep, he's a wonderful coach and a wonderful mentor for our team, working for so many years, since 2012 he's with the Oman team," said Jatinder.

Ireland captain Paul Stirling was excited to be placed in a tough group in the World Cup.

"We play cricket because we want to play against the best sides in the world as often as we can and you see a group come out like that and we're just terribly excited to get out there and try and put our best foot forward.

"We don't play that level of cricket every week in, week out. So, all I can say is when that group came out, there were more smiles than frowns. We're just excited to get out there and hopefully show what we've got," said Stirling.

(With PTI Inputs)