Australian T20 squad handed triple injury setback ahead of India tour

Three high-profile Australian cricketers will miss the upcoming white-ball tour of India with injury in another frustrating setback.

Australian cricketer Mitchell Starc. Photo by Saeed Khan / AFP

Australian cricketers Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis will miss the upcoming white-ball tour of India with injury in a frustrating setback ahead of the highly-anticipated Men’s T20 World Cup.

On Wednesday afternoon, Cricket Australia confirmed the trio would not travel to the sub-continent this week for three T20 matches against India, the first of which gets underway on Tuesday evening.

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Marsh (ankle) and Stoinis (side strain) are still recovering from minor injuries they sustained during the recent white-ball series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand in regional Queensland, while Starc has a low level knee complaint.

All three are expected to recover before Australia’s T20 World Cup defence campaign on home soil, which starts in October.

“Selectors felt with three games in six days across three cities, including travel to India and internally, Marsh, Stoinis and Starc are best served remaining in Australia to prepare for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup,” CA said in a statement.

They have been replaced in the squad by New South Wales paceman Sean Abbott, Sydney Thunder all-rounder Daniel Sams and Tasmanian seamer Nathan Ellis.

Veteran opener David Warner also won’t feature in the T20 series against India due to workload management.

Australian cricket players Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Glenn Maxwell. Photo by Saeed Khan / AFP

The triple setback opens the door for cricket prodigy Cameron Green to rejoin the national T20 side for the first time since his debut against Pakistan in April.

“I think I’m surprised by Greeny every time he plays really … his bowling just goes from strength to strength every time he ties the boots up,” Australian paceman Josh Hazlewood told reporters at the SCG on Wednesday.

“With a couple of guys out injured at the moment, it’s probably a good opportunity to get him in a couple of games. Mitch Marsh and Stoinis are injured, so he could slide in and maybe take one of those roles for this tour.

“When we’re at full strength he’s probably just a touch off at the moment, but as we’ve seen, it won’t be long.”

The loss of Stoinis and Marsh also means that Hobart Hurricanes batter Tim David will almost certainly make his Australian debut next week.

“I look forward to meeting him,” Starc laughed.

“He’s obviously plied his trade around the world in different leagues. He’s got his opportunity now in the World Cup squad.

“He has this next week in India to get amongst the group and I think a few of us will meet him for the first time and see what he’s like.

“I’m much the same as (the public), I’ve seen him on TV. Obviously that power and what he brings to the table to any team he plays for and now he has a chance to do that on the international stage.”

The first T20 between India and Australia gets underway in Mohali on Tuesday evening, with the opening delivery scheduled for midnight AEST.

Australia squad

Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (vc), Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Finch (c), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa

India squad

Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandaran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah