Australia vs India: Hosts’ pace troika set to be rested for the ODI series

In their ongoing Test series against India, Australia have strained to put forth consistent performances. Even as their bowlers have done a reasonable job, their batting has tended to crumble in crunch moments. Subsequently, Tim Paine and Co are 1-2 behind in the four-match series with the last encounter scheduled to be played at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), starting Thursday, January 3.

The three-match ODI series, thereafter, gets underway on Saturday, January 12 at the SCG itself and the Australian squad is yet to be announced. In the meantime, it has been learned that their pace troika, including the likes of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, is likely to be rested for the white-ball fixtures in order to manage their workload as per reports in Sydney Morning Herald.

The 2019 World Cup is set to start on May 30 and Australia head coach Justin Langer stressed the importance of giving them adequate rest in a bid to keep them afresh for the mega event. “It’s the great conundrum for us, really, how we manage our bowlers. For example, we might not play them in the next three one-dayers so they’re ready for the next two (Tests) to keep them fresh,” Langer mentioned.

Cummins has been outstanding

Langer also praised Pat Cummins, who has arguably been Australia’s best player in the red-ball matches. The 25-year-old has picked up 14 wickets at an average of 20.57 with his best figures of 6/27 coming in the second innings of the erstwhile encounter in Melbourne. Moreover, Cummins has also flourished with the bat, having notched 138 runs at an average of 23 with a top score of 63 at the MCG.

“He (Cummins) has been brilliant, he’s been outstanding but then – as soon as we do that they want to play and also then everyone else would be on our back saying: ‘Why aren’t they playing every single game?’ But if you play every game – we’ve also got a World Cup and Ashes next year – we want him fresh for those things,” he added.

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