Australia’s cricket selectors have gone back to the past for their ODI series in India with David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and Mitch Marsh recalled for duty.
Warner, who left the Test leg of the tour during the week due to an elbow fracture, will jet back to India next month for the three-match series to open the batting with Travis Head.
Maxwell, who has returned to state duties with Victoria in the past week after recovering from a broken leg, and Marsh, who has been sidelined since November with an ankle problem, have also been included in the 16-man squad.
Marsh is likely to suit up for Western Australia in a couple of domestic one-dayers to warm up for the India contest.
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Pat Cummins will skipper the team after clean-sweeping England 3-0 in his first outing as one-day leader in November but fellow fast bowler Josh Hazlewood will not be in action after flying home from India earlier this week due to the Achilles strain which ruled him out of the four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
(Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)
The Australians are sticking with established players as they begin their build-up to the World Cup in India in October – only four of the squad are under 29: Cameron Green (23), Josh Inglis (27), Marnus Labuschagne (28) and Jhye Richardson (26).
Richardson has been dogged by hamstring and heel problems this summer which have limited his appearances for WA and the Perth Scorchers.
“With the World Cup just over seven months away, these matches in India are an important step in our preparation. Glenn, Mitchell and Jhye are all important players in what we think the squad might look like come October,” chief selector George Bailey said.
Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar, who was also sent home early from the Test leg of the tour due to a lack of form with the red ball, will get a chance to prove he belongs in the ODI side in India where spin will be an important component in Australia’s World Cup chances.
Surprisingly they named four quicks – Cummins, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc and Richardson – as well as Green as an all-rounder and only two frontline spinners.
Queensland left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann, who played four ODIs in Sri Lanka last year and made his Test debut last week in the second Test at Delhi, was unlucky not to get a spot.
Young Victorian offie Todd Murphy, who has been one of the touring party’s few shining lights in India, has a modest record of 12 wickets at 49.25 in List A one-dayers but was a revelation for the Sydney Sixers in the BBL this summer so he is another spinner who should be part of Australia’s white-ball teams in the future.
Maxwell’s return also gives Australia an extra off-spin option among their top six batters and after his broken leg from a freak accident at a party cruelled his hopes of returning to the Test team for the first time since 2017, he is relieved to be back in the international arena in the 50-over format.
“I always said I was building to that one-day series, it was always in my mind,” Maxwell told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.
“Now that I am closer to that workload I need to be at, it’s about trying to maintain that, get the pace back up, and in a couple of weeks time I will be 100 per cent.”
Hazlewood’s priority is rehabbing his injury to be available for the World Test Championship final (if Australia sneak in ahead of Sri Lanka by avoiding a 4-0 whitewash) and the Ashes in England.
“It would be great for Josh to be part of this series but we have taken a conservative view ahead of a very important winter in England of which he will be an integral part,” Bailey said.
Australia take on India in Mumbai on March 17, Vizag two days later before their tour ends at Chennai on March 22.
Australian squad: Pat Cummins (c)
Sean Abbott
Ashton Agar
Alex Carey
Cameron Green
Travis Head
Josh Inglis
Marnus Labuschagne
Mitchell Marsh
Glenn Maxwell
Jhye Richardson
Steve Smith
Mitchell Starc
Marcus Stoinis
David Warner
Adam Zampa
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