The Australian stars Pat Cummins, Travis Head, and Steve Smith are set to return to the T20I squad to play against New Zealand starting this month.
Australia T20I squad for NZ series
Cricket Australia has announced Mitchell Marsh as the captain of Australia’s full strength which is set to play in the New Zealand series ahead of the Men’s T20 World Cup.
Looks like Marsh will be leading Australia in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 after being named as the captain for the three-match series.
Aaron Finch was the captain of the Australian side which won the first T20 World Cup in 2021. He retired from the format one year ago yet the cricket board has not named his successor.
The Test and ODI skipper Pat Cummins has been included in the squad after being rested for the West Indies series in the home tour.
On the other hand, batters like Travis Head and Steve Smith are included in the 15-member squad along with the key pacer Mitchell Starc.
“The next six games will provide us the opportunity to start shaping what we think our World Cup squad will look like and potential roles within that,” said head selector George Bailey.
“We will also fully utilize the opportunity to monitor and watch the performances of the Australian players in the (Indian Premier League) immediately preceding the World Cup.”
Matthew Short will be the first choice to replace Finch at the top of the order, was included in the squad despite being ruled out of the West Indies’ Australia tour in 2024 due to a low-grade Hamstring injury.
Nathan Ellis was another injury concern who suffered a rib fracture and Spencer Johnson is on the hopes to standby to replace him in the squad for the West Indies series. He will be getting more time to be ready for the New Zealand series.
Australia and New Zealand will be playing their first T20I match on February 21 at Wellington Regional Stadium.
Australia squad for the NZ series
Mitchell Marsh (captain), Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
