The 25-year-old uncapped ODI batsman, Marnus Labuschagne, is in line to make his ODI debut after inclusion in the Australia’s 14-man squad to fight India in a three-match series, starting January 14. Australia’s tour of India will be the team’s first 5—over international assignment since 2019 World Cup. Marnus has not been part of the team in limited-overs matches as yet, but he has displayed an outstanding run of scores in Tests.
The team is led by coach Andrew McDonald (as Justin Langer will skip the India tour) and includes the pace duo of Sean Abbott and Kane Richardson, along with Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
The squad excludes the seven players who featured in the Cricket World Cup semi-final loss to England, namely Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Nathan Lyon and injured Jason Behrendorff.
The national selector, Trevor Hohns, said, “The performance of our white ball squads has been strong, and we are hoping to build the momentum towards the T20 World Cup at home at the end of the year and ultimately build towards the 2023 ICC World Cup in India”.
He added, "The performance of the top order at home through the T20 series was very strong so we look for that to continue in the Indian ODI series”.
Throwing light on Marnus’ ODI debut, Trevir stated, “We also believe Marnus Labuschagne is ready for his international white ball debut after his strong form for Queensland in this form of the game.
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Siddle recalled to Australia’s Test squad
Australia cricket selectors have roped in bowler Peter Siddle for Boxing Day Test against New Zealand as a replacement for Josh Hazlewood, who has a hamstring injury. Though the 35-year-old is a veteran of 67 Tests and 221 wickets and featured in the Ashes in England, he has not played a home Test since Nov 2016.
Hohns said, “Peter has been brought in as a 13th player for Melbourne. He is a proven Test match performer with an exceptional knowledge of the MCG which will be a valuable part of our preparation”.
Australia will square off against India in Mumbai on 14 January 2020, followed by the second and third match in Rajkot (January 17) and Bengaluru (January 19) respectively.
ODI Squad for India Tour: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Australia 13-man squad: David Warner, Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade, Travis Head, Tim Paine (c), Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, James Pattinson, Michael Neser, Peter Siddle.
