Australia to tour South Africa ahead of ODI World Cup

The eight-match white-ball series will begin on August 30.

Published - 05 May 2023, 13:15 IST | Updated - 05 May 2023, 13:15 IST

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Australia will travel to South Africa for three-match T20I series and a five-match ODI series, starting August 30 in Durban, ahead of the ODI World Cup 2023. Notably, Cricket South Africa (CSA) has confirmed the same as the dates and the venues of all the matches have been finalised.

Meanwhile, the visiting team are yet to announce their new T20I skipper as Aaron Finch has announced his retirement from international cricket. When it comes to ODI cricket, the bilateral series will have significant importance, as both teams will be looking to finalise their playing XI and the entire squad in general ahead of the World Cup in India.

Notably, pacers like Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc will play six Test matches in England (World Test Championship finale and the Ashes 2023) for almost two months and thus, it will be interesting to see if the Kangaroos give them much-needed rest ahead of coming to the subcontinent.

Cummins previously mentioned that he will at times delegate the ODI captaincy to someone else in order to manage his workload. Thus, it is expected that he along with his fellow pacers and some other key players may skip the tour in order to keep themselves fit for the marquee tournament.

On the other hand, white-ball specialists Glenn Maxwell, Tim David and Mitchell Marsh will be coming to South Africa right after The Hundred in England. Thus, they will be much fresher than the players who will be part of the Test series in England.

When it comes to the Proteas, they recently defeated the Netherlands 2-0 and qualified for the World Cup. Meanwhile, no other series is lined up for them at the moment and thus, all the players will be available for selection when they take on Australia. This will also help the Temba Bavuma-led side prepare themselves well before the World Cup.