Maxwell, Marsh and Richardson in Australian squad for ODI series against India
All-rounders Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh, along with Jhye Richardson, were on Thursday included in Australia’s 16-man ODI squad for the three-match series against India next month. With this series, all three will return to international cricket. Apart from this, Pat Cummins, David Warner and Ashton Agar have also got a place in the team. The three ODIs will be played in Mumbai on March 17, Visakhapatnam on March 19 and Chennai on March 22.
Cummins returned home after the second Test against India in New Delhi due to illness of a family member, while Agar was released from the Test team to play domestic cricket. Warner, on the other hand, has been ruled out of the remaining two Tests due to an elbow injury. Cummins, however, will return to India for the third Test starting March 1 in Indore. Maxwell and Marsh return to the team after being sidelined for a long time due to foot and ankle injuries respectively.
Maxwell, who fractured his leg in strange circumstances in November, returned to competitive cricket last week while Marsh featured in the three-match ODI series against England in November last year. Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, who returned home midway through the Test series, has also been ruled out of the ODI series after failing to recover from injury. Richardson, who has been out since the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka in the middle of last year due to injury, is now fully recovered.
“It would have been great to have Josh (Hazlewood) be a part of this series but we have taken a conservative approach with the very important tour of England,” said George Bailey, head of Australia’s selection committee, announcing the squad. Cummins will continue to lead the ODI team following the retirement of Aaron Finch. Travis Head is expected to pair with Warner at the top in the ODI series.
Other members of the team are Marnus Labuschagne, Adam Zampa, Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis, Steve Smith, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey and fast bowlers Sean Abbott and Mitchell Starc. The upcoming three-match series is one of the two bilateral ODI series that Australia will play in India ahead of the 50-over World Cup in October-November. The second series between the two teams will be played in September just before the World Cup.
ODI 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 and Adam Zampa.
