Australia make 7 changes, name ODI squad for India tour; Test star included
Australia will play India in three ODIs starting from January 14, 2020. The opening game is in Mumbai. Australia have named their 14-man squad
FollowSydney: Australia on Monday (December 17) announced a 14-man squad for their ODI tour of India which starts on January 14, 2020, in Mumbai. There were seven changes made from the ICC World Cup 2019 squad.
Test star Marnus Labuschagne has been included in the squad for the three-match series. Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jasn Behrendorff (injured) and Nathan Lyon were not named in the revamped 50-over line-up. At the World Cup, Australia lost to England in the semi-finals.
Australia’s head coach Justin Langer will take a break and assistant coach Andrew McDonald will take up the coaching duties in India.
The 25-year-old Labuschagne, uncapped in ODIs, has been in superb form in the five-day format. He recently hit three consecutive Test centuries. He also completed 1,000 runs in the format.
Aaron Finch will lead the squad while there are two vice-captains in Alex Carey and Pat Cummins.
“The performance of our white-ball squads has been strong, and we are hoping to build the momentum towards the T20 World Cup at home at the end of the year and ultimately build towards the 2023 ICC World Cup in India,” national selector Trevor Hohns said after the announcement of the squad.
“The performance of the top order at home through the T20 Series was very strong so we look for that to continue in the Indian ODI series. We also believe Marnus Labuschagne is ready for his international white-ball debut after his strong form for Queensland in this form of the game,” he added.
On Australia’s bowling, he said, “In terms of the bowling group we are sticking with combination that are performing well. Sean Abbott and Kane Richardson are in the squad following the successful T20 campaign.”
“Adam Zampa and his growing combination with Agar is also something the selectors want to see more of while Nathan Lyon remains in the one-day squad selection frame,” Hohns added.
Australia ODI squad for tour of India
Aaron Finch (captain), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vice-captain), Pat Cummins (vice-captain), Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner, Adam Zampa
ODI schedule (all day/night matches)
First ODI: January 14, Mumbai
Second ODI: January 17, Rajkot
Third ODI: January 19, Bengaluru
