Why is Ashton Agar not playing T20 World Cup 2024 Match 51 between Australia and India?

Mitchell Starc is back in the Australian playing XI for their all-important game against India on Monday, June 24, at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia.

At the toss, Australian captain Mitchell Marsh announced that the talismanic left-arm seamer is replacing Ashton Agar in the side. Starc missed the last game against Afghanistan, which Australia lost. Agar replaced him in the playing XI and put in a disappointing fielding performance and failed to contribute with the bat as well. He was economical with the ball but didn't have anything in the wickets column.

Starc's return for the clash against India will undoubtedly strengthen Australia's bowling lineup. Indian batters have had their struggles against left-arm seamers in the past and the 34-year-old would want to capitalise on that. Meanwhile, India, who are unbeaten so far in the marquee tournament, are going in with the same side that defeated Bangladesh comprehensively on Saturday, June 22.

What did the two captains say at the toss?

Marsh won the toss and opted to field first. A win for Australia would make them the frontrunners to progress to the semifinals. Meanwhile, a loss for the 2021 champions would give Afghanistan and Bangladesh a great opportunity to push for a maiden semifinal berth at an ICC event. Hence, the star player termed the game against India a quarterfinal. He felt that the pitch is good for batting and asserted that his team is ready to face a stiff opposition like India.

"We are going to bowl first. Looks a belter, it looks lovely. It's a quarterfinal, looking forward to it, big challenge against India. We have had ourselves in this situation before, every game is a must-win now. We got an experienced group, a great staff. Starc comes in for Agar," Marsh said at the toss.

Also Read: Afghanistan are very strong, probably should have won against us in ODI World Cup too: Usman Khawaja

Meanwhile, Rohit admitted that he would have also bowled first had he won the toss. He reckoned that the surface is sticky. The 37-year-old said that the team has adapted to the conditions well and is hoping to put on a show at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium.

"We would have fielded first as well, looks a bit sticky. We wanted to chase. We know what exactly we are doing, will try to do our best. I hope it doesn't change much. The overhead conditions also matter in this part of the world. We have adapted well, hopefully, another game where we put up a show. Every game matters in this tournament, nothing changes. We are playing the same team," Rohit stated.

Australia Playing XI: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh (C), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (WK), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah