AUSTRALIA/INDIA: Australia, the defending champions, are unwilling to take any chances before the T20 World Cup 2022 starts next month.
To play it safe and aid injured players in their recovery, Australia has decided to rest important players like Mitchell Starc, Mitch Marsh, and Marcus Stoinis ahead of Aaron Finch’s team’s three-match T20I series against India, which gets underway on September 20 in Mohali.
Nathan Ellis, Daniel Sams, and Sean Abbott have been added to the team to replace Starc, Mitch Marsh, and Stoinis, who have all been ruled out of the India tour due to injury. David Warner had previously taken a break from the trip.
The three injuries are minor, but with the travel required for three games in three different locations over the course of six days in India, Australia has chosen to be careful ahead of its T20 World Cup 2022 campaign, which gets underway on October 22 when they play New Zealand at the SCG.
The start is a last-minute absence from the tour following a scan on his knee today in Sydney, but the ailments to Marsh and Stoinis were discovered during Australia’s ODI series against Zimbabwe and Cairns in north Queensland. Before the World Cup, Australia’s domestic T20 series against the West Indies and England should include Warner, Marsh, and Stoinis.
Tim David, an all-rounder for the Mumbai Indians, will almost certainly make his Australian debut on the trip as a middle-order finisher. He will have the opportunity to make it challenging for Stoinis to reclaim his spot in the team.
Steve Smith might go back up to No. 3 now that all-rounder Cameron Green has joined the team in place of Marsh, while Josh Inglis will likely partner
Aaron Finch is at the top of the order with Warner likely taking a break from the tour to spend time with his family. The squad includes Ashton Agar, who was dropped by Australia’s daring selection process when they stormed to the World Cup championship in the UAE last year.
Together with Matthew Wade, Stoinis was crucial to Australia’s victory over Pakistan in the semi-final. The all-rounder scored 40 runs. Australia came from having to score 62 runs in the final five overs to win
The Australian team will depart for India early on Thursday, September 15, for a few days of training and acclimatisation before the opening match, which will take place in Mohali on Tuesday, September 20, next week. On September 23, they play again in Nagpur, followed by the championship game in Hyderabad two days later.
India squad:
Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.
Australia squad:
Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (VC), Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Finch (c), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.
Also Read: Official Indian Squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Announced
