Australia announce ODI and T20I squads for India tour

Cricket Australia have picked both the ODI and T20 squads for the tour of India which will be played in September-October. Australia are scheduled to play 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is on this tour. Earlier this year the team from down under had visited the country for a four match Test series which was keenly contested.

The selectors have picked the different squads for both the formats and have recalled some of the players. Pace men James Faulkner and Nathan Coulter-Nile have been recalled to the ODI squad as have all-rounders Ashton Agar and Hilton Cartwright. Josh Hazlewood is only the part of ODI squad. Notably, Mitchell Starc has been rested for this tour as he continues to recover from his injury and keeping in mind the Ashes in November.

Chief selector speaks

“Nathan brings raw pace to the side with good variation. It is great to see him back from injury and we are hopeful he will have a big impact in this series,” selector Trevor Hohns said of Coulter-Nile’s selection.

“James Faulkner is a solid One-Day campaigner and is very familiar with subcontinent conditions, coming off a very good tour of Sri Lanka last year.  We hope that he will take his chance in returning to the one-day side,” he continued.

Trevor Hohns was also confident about the all-rounder Hilton Cartwright and hailed him for his skills in limited overs cricket. “Hilton is an aggressive striker of the ball and we think his game will be well suited to the transition to short-form cricket.”

Dan and Paine are back!

The t20I squad includes Western Australian quick Jason Behrendorff and Kane Richardson. Veteran all-rounder Dan Christian and keeper-batsman Tim Paine have both been included in the T20 squad.

“Jason has been a stand out performer for the Scorchers for a number of seasons and deserves his chance at this level,” T20 selector Mark Waugh said of Behrendorff.

“Dan is a very experienced all-rounder who can be a very dangerous batsman. He had a solid IPL season this year and we believe his bowling will be well suited to the conditions we will face in India. “Tim Paine has been called-up following his successful home T20 International and Big Bash campaigns,” Waugh concluded.

The schedule and the venues are yet to be confirmed by the BCCI but with the tour going forward now post the conclusion of pay dispute, it might get announced soon. As per the reports, Chennai, Bengaluru, Nagpur, Indore and Kolkata will host the five-match ODI series and Hyderabad, Ranchi and Guwahati the T20Is.

Australia ODI Squad:

Steve Smith (C), David Warner (VC), Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa

Australia T20I Squad:

Steve Smith (C), David Warner (VC), Jason Behrendorff, Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa