Shane Warne leaves out in-form Usman Khawaja from his Australia World Cup squad

The ICC World Cup is less than two months away and all teams are gearing up for the final squads that they will choose for the mega event. Finalists of the 2015 edition, New Zealand, have already announced their squad and all eyes are on how their Trans-Tasman rivals Australia, also the holders, go about it. The Kangaroos made a terrific comeback after a long phase of lull, winning eight consecutive ODIs to claim consecutive series against India and Pakistan. Their skipper Aaron Finch, whose poor form with the bat was giving the side nightmares ahead of the tournament, also bounced back in style, especially in the series against Pakistan.

Another Australian batsman who made a significant contribution to his team’s good show in the last two series is opener, Usman Khawaja. In the last 10 ODIs, the Pakistan-born batter hit two hundreds and five fifties – two of which were 90s – to register as one of Australia’s leading run-scorers in 2019. He has gathered 769 runs in 13 matches at an average of 59-plus so far this year and his picking up at the right moment will make the Aussies glad. However, former spinner Shane Warne is of a different opinion and decided to leave out the left-hander from his squad of 15 for the WC.

Warne picked D’Arcy Short instead

The 49-year-old legend, who has been the member of World Cup-winning Australian squads on more than one occasion, picked D’Arcy Short, who has played just four ODIs and hasn’t played since November last year, to open along with David Warner. Finch, the other opener, was demoted to No.3 while another comeback man Steve Smith was put at No.4.

Warne also left out Peter Handscomb, who also showed glimpses of good form, along with pacer Josh Hazlewood who is on a recovery trail. The other batsmen filling up the middle-order in Warne’s XI are Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Alex Carey. Pacers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Jhye Richardson, who suffered a shoulder injury recently, completed the fast bowlers’ queue while Adam Zampa was picked as the sole spinner in the XI.

Warne said the conditions in England and Wales needed to be kept in mind while picking up the final squad.
The final Australian squad for the WC will be announced before April 23.

Australia face Afghanistan in their first match of the tournament in Bristol on June 1.

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