All-rounders, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis did not find a place in Australia’s squad for the ODI series against India next month, announced early today morning, as 2019’s standout batsman, Marnus Labuschagne found a place in the team’s limited-overs’ set-up for the first time.
The 14-man list also excluded star spinner, Nathan Lyon as Australia made seven changes from their World Cup squad. Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Peter Handscomb and Ashton Turner were the others in the squad not part of the World Cup.
JUST IN: Australia's ODI squad to tour India next month #INDvAUS
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Aaron Finch (c)
Sean Abbott
Ashton Agar
Alex Carey (vc)
Pat Cummins (vc)
Peter Handscomb
Josh Hazlewood
Marnus Labuschagne
Kane Richardson
Steven Smith
Mitchell Starc
Ashton Turner
David Warner
Adam Zampa
Labuschagne, who shot into the top 10 Test rankings earlier this month on the back of consecutive Test hundreds against Pakistan, has been rewarded with for his stupendous form in recent times. He also proved his credentials with an average of 60 in the recently-concluded Marsh ODI Cup, Australia’s domestic one-day tournament.
Hazlewood, currently out of the ongoing New Zealand Test series with an injury, has also been named as part of a four-man pace quartet, which includes Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Sean Abbott, who in all probability travels as the back-up. Hazlewood, often referred to as the modern-day McGrath for his consistent line and lengths, missed out on a World Cup ticket earlier this year.
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Ashton Turner and Peter Handscomb, the latter having made it to Australia’s World Cup team only as a late injury replacement for Usman Khawaja, have been named for their ability to play spin and also for their heroics in the sub-continent on Australia’s tour earlier this year.
Alex Carey, who enjoyed a great World Cup campaign, and Pat Cummins have been named as joint deputies to Aaron Finch, who continues to captain the side after he led them to the World Cup semi-finals and whitewash victories over Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the recent T2o series.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Saeed Khan