Australia announce playing XI for first T20I against Sri Lanka, David Warner, Steve Smith back

Australia have named their playing XI for the first of three T20Is in Sri Lanka, which starts on June 7 at the R Premadasa stadium. The top seven batters from the playing XI that played in the T20 World Cup 2021 final against New Zealand have all been included with David Warner and Steve Smith returning. It has to be noted that, Warner and Smith missed the T20I series against Sri Lanka in February at home and the one-off T20I against Pakistan as well.

This will be a great boost to the side as Warner was in staggering form in the recent IPL 2022 for the Delhi Capitals where he amassed 432 runs in 12 games at an average of 48. Smith last played an international game in the Test tour to Pakistan and did not take part in the limited-overs series. This will be a good opportunity to get the top names from the squad that played last year in the T20 World Cup, which saw the Aussies lifting the elusive title.

Pat Cummins and Adam Zampa miss out

Meanwhile, Pat Cummins and Adam Zampa are two names that missed out due to different reasons but will be back in contention once they are available. It meant that the likes of Kane Richardson and Ashton Agar have got the nod. The four names that have been benched for the first T20 international are Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Jhye Richardson and Mitchell Swepson.

Australia XI for first T20I v Sri Lanka: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Josh Hazlewood

AUS T20I squad for SL Series: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner, Matthew Wade.

The three T20 internationals will be followed by a five-match ODI series for which Warner and Smith have been named and the tour comes to an end with the two-Test match series.