Australia announce 18-member white-ball squad for West Indies and Bangladesh tours, IPL stars pull out

With the ICC T20 World Cup slated to take place later this year in India, all the participating teams will polish their skills in international white-ball games. For the same, Team Australia will travel to West Indies and Bangladesh for 10 T20Is and three ODIs. However, they won’t be able to field their best XI in the Caribbean Islands with seven big names pulling out of the crucial tour.

Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, David Warner, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Jhye Richardson, and Kane Richardson have all confirmed their withdrawal from Australia’s upcoming winter tours, leaving coach Justin Langer without seven of his best players. Notably, all these players participated in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, which has now been postponed due to the COVID-19 virus.

Although the season on suspended on May 4, the Aussie contingent got to reunite with their families on June 1 due to travel and isolation protocols.  While Smith has withdrawn due to an elbow injury according to a release from Cricket Australia, the six others, “requested not to be considered for the tour for various reasons”.

Australia announce 18-man squad for West Indies and Bangladesh tour

Notably, Cricket Australia had earlier announced a 29-man preliminary squad for the tour of the West Indies. However, the pulling out of these stars has left Australia with a second-stringed team, and hence, many inexperienced faces taking the field against Kieron Pollard’s men. On June 16 (Wednesday), the Aussie selectors confirmed a final 18-man squad for the white-ball tours of the Caribbean and Bangladesh.

Aaron Finch will continue to lead the side, and he’ll want to get his lost sheen back. At the same time, veterans like Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, and Josh Hazlewood will have to perform from the front. In Josh Philippe and Riley Meredith, and Wes Agar, the Aussies indeed have some potent youngsters and they would be determined to shine in the national colours and stake a claim in Australia’s T20 World Cup squad.

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Wes Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Dan Christian, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Marsh, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.

Travelling reserves: Nathan Ellis, Tanveer Sangha.