Cricket-Australia's Behrendorff hopes IPL will prove springboard to World Cup

Jason Behrendorff marked his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut with two wickets on Wednesday but the Australian fast bowler knows he needs to deliver consistently to stake a claim for a Cricket World Cup spot. Mumbai Indians' Behrendorff removed Chennai Super Kings opener Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina with the new ball to help his side cruise to a 37-run victory.

With fellow left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc expected to return to full-fitness for the World Cup, and Australia's wealth of options in the fast bowling department, Behrendorff's path to the tournament in England and Wales is far from straightforward. "My (World Cup) spot is not certainly cemented down, that's for sure," Behrendorff told reporters. "Any performance here can really help me out.

"My main strength is swinging the new ball up front and taking some wickets. It was good that I was able to do that tonight and keep that in front of selectors' minds... that I am still bowling well." Behrendorff, who has 14 wickets in a short international career of 13 limited-overs matches, took a career-best 3-63 as Australia completed a 5-0 one-day series whitewash of Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday. (Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford peter.rutherford@thomsonreuters.com; +822 3704 5698 Reuters Messaging: peter.rutherford.reuters.com@reuters.net;)

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