Pat Cummins stated he is excited to play all three One-Day Internationals against India from September 22 to 27, but added that Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell will not be available.
The much-anticipated returns of Australian talents Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell have been postponed, with the duo set to miss the first ODI of a three-match series against India on Friday, September 22 in Mohali. Australia has landed in India with an 18-man squad for the three-match series, which will serve as their final warm-up for the World Cup.
Captain Pat Cummins, on the other hand, announced on Thursday that he will play all three ODIs. Notably, all three players, as well as Steve Smith, missed the South African trip owing to injuries acquired during the Ashes earlier this year.
Australia has picked both Starc and Maxwell to their team for the India tour. Starc and Maxwell arrived in India with the rest of the crew. Notably, when returning Steve Smith batted at the for more than 2 hours under lights on Wednesday evening, Starc was performing fitness drills at the Punjab Cricket Association in Mohali.
“We have got plenty of people at different stages. I am feeling pretty good, my wrist is all healed now, 100 percent. I was running around at the nets, this afternoon. I hope to play tomorrow. Hoping to play all 3 games and trying to think of a long list. Starc is here, (but) he won’t play tomorrow. But hopefully, he will be available later on the series. Yeah, he won’t play tomorrow. But I hope he will come on and play a part later on. He had been bowling in Sydney. He will bowl today or tomorrow. We are all tracking him. The time frame is similar for Maxwell,” Cummins said.
Pat Cummins missed the South African trip owing to a wrist fracture sustained after the final Ashes Test, while Steve Smith missed the series due to a wrist tendon injury. Mitchell Starc opted out of the South Africa series owing to groin pain, while Glenn Maxwell was ruled out due to an ankle issue relating to his leg injury from last year.
2023 Australia Tour of India
September 22: First ODI, Mohali (D/N), 1.30pm IST
September 24: Second ODI, Indore (D/N), 1.30pm IST
September 27: Third ODI, Rajkot (D/N), 1.30pm IST
Australia ODI squad for India series
Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, 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
INDIA Squad for the 1st two ODIs:
KL Rahul (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja (Vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
INDIA Squad for the 3rd & final ODI:
Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya, (Vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel*, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj