Aaron Finch has been once again handed the captaincy of the Australian side for the limited overs game.
Australia's captain Aaron Finch. (Photo: AFP)
Cricket Australia on Thursday announced 13-member T20 International squad to play South Africa and India. Pace spearhead Mitchell Starc, spinner Nathan Lyon and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh have not been included in the Australia team for the upcoming T20I series.
Aaron Finch has been once again handed the captaincy of the Australian side for the limited overs game.
Speaking to media, Australian coach Justin Langer said, “We know coming off the back of the tour to the UAE, a huge summer at home, and the World Cup and Ashes just around the corner that we have to get the balance right between playing our best T20 team and preparing for the upcoming Test series.”
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“While I know all four have a desire to be playing for Australia in every format, with a really tough Test series against India coming up, we believe their best preparation is to go back and get some really good cricket under their belts in the Sheffield Shield,” Langer added.
The troubled Australian side have lost 17 of their 19 ODIs. In their last outing, they were thrashed by Pakistan 0-3 in the three-match T20I series played in the United Arab Emirates.
Marcus Stoinis, who was ignored in the Pakistan series, has returned to the national team and left-armed Behrendorff has also made his comeback after recovering from his back injuries.
“Marcus is such a versatile player, he’s a powerful middle-order batsman and he provides us with another solid bowling option,” said Langer, before adding, “Jason Behrendorff has also earned a spot in the squad after returning to full fitness. Tactically we believe it’s important to have a good left-arm swing bowler at our disposal for the four matches.”
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (capt), Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa
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