Australia announced a 18-member squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against India, which starts from September 22. The series will mark the return of several important players, which include captain Pat Cummins. Several Aussie players had sustained injuries during the Ashes and were not part of the ongoing white-ball series against South Africa.
Cummins and Steve Smith were recovering from respective wrist injuries while Mitchell Starc was troubled with soreness in his groin and shoulder after the Ashes.
Meanwhile, Glenn Maxwell, who was originally part of the South Africa tour, had injured his ankle before the T20Is before flying back to Australia for the birth of his child. Maxwell has now been declared fit and will be traveling to India for the ODIs.
Cameron Green, who suffered a concussion in the first ODI against South Africa and missed three after that also finds his name in the 18-member squad.
Travis Head and Ashton Agar are among the most notable omissions. Agar suffered a minor calf tear ahead of the white-ball tourney against South Africa and had missed the T20Is. He did feature in the first ODI but was not considered for next two due to soreness. He too flew back to Australia earlier this week for the birth of his first child.
Head, on the other hand, is running out of time to be fit for the upcoming World Cup. The explosive batter fractured his hand during the fourth ODI.
“Surgery is understood to be one of the options considered for the opening batter. Even if he does not go under the knife, the 29-year-old appears to be in a race against time to feature at the World Cup, which begins in three weeks,” read Cricket Australia’s statement as they announced the squad.
Matt Short and Spencer Johnson are two uncapped players named in the squad.
Meanwhile, Australia have until September 28 to make changes to the World Cup squad, following which teams will need approval from ICC to make any further alterations.
Australia squad vs India: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
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