Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes that some big questions will be put up on the hosts' performance if they cannot qualify for the semi-finals.
Ponting has been left surprised by the underperformance of the defending champions in the tournament and the preparation leading to it.
"If they don't make it through, there'll be some questions asked, I'm sure because I had them in the top three coming here," Ponting told ESPN Cricinfo.
The two-time World Cup champion had predicted Australia making it quickly into the semi-finals before the start of the tournament.
"I thought the final would be between Australia, India and England. I say that because no one gave Australia a chance in the last [World Cup] over in the UAE in conditions that didn't suit them. But then, they're [currently] in home conditions, and conditions that all of these guys have been brought up [in] and played a lot of cricket [in]," Ponting said.
Ponting thinks there is no excuse for the team in terms of preparation leading up to the tournament. He is also disappointed with the form of the team coming to the T20 World Cup.
Australia lost five of their nine T20Is leading to the tournament, with a loss faced against India in the warm-up match and a rain-marred game in Canberra against England.
The hosts are now highly dependent on other teams in their group, as the hosts will not advance past the quarterfinals unless either New Zealand or England lose their remaining games or Australia defeats Afghanistan handily.
Australia's performance has been very ordinary this tournament, and they have not been able to get their foot off the peddle in all the departments. Ponting feels the team needs help to nail and execute the big moments like they did last year.
"It's there and then the moments in games that you just have to get right, and you have to nail in World Cups," he said. "And looking back to the last one [T20 World Cup], Australia nailed all the big moments, and they haven't so far in this tournament, and that's quite often the difference.
It might be Australia's lone defeat in the competition, but it severely damaged their net run rate and may be why they don't advance to the semi-finals. Additionally, they have already missed three catches in this tournament, which they will likely perceive as important, especially regarding NRR.
"I think Australia has been a little bit off in probably all departments, to be honest. They've been a little bit sloppy in the field. A lot of their bowling hasn't been great, and their batters probably haven't scored the runs they should have either - particularly probably at the top of the order. If they don't make it through, they obviously only have themselves to blame," Ponting added.
Australia is in Adelaide for their last encounter of the Super 12 facing Afghanistan. The hosts must defeat Afghanistan by nearly 60 runs if they bat first or chase a target of 140 in under 13 overs to surpass England's NRR alone.
