Australia’s T20I squad has been announced for their upcoming series against India. The squad includes Western Australian allrounder Aaron Hardie, who made his debut in South Africa earlier this year. David Warner has been given a break after the ODI World Cup and will not be part of the T20I series.
Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc have also been withdrawn from the squad, along with allrounders Cameron Green and Mitchell Marsh. Warner had an outstanding performance in the ODI World Cup where he scored 535 runs at 48.63. He will retire from Test cricket after the upcoming series against Pakistan, which will be his final stage in the format.
The T20I series acts as part of the build-up to next year’s tournament in West Indies and the USA. Australia currently has six more T20Is scheduled before that tournament, with a pair of three-match series against West Indies and New Zealand in February. The squad now includes seven players who featured during the World Cup plus Tanveer Sangha, who was a traveling reserve throughout.
Matthew Wade will lead the side, although Mitchell Marsh is expected to captain them on a permanent basis. There will also be a stand-in coach for the series, with Andre Borovec taking charge as Andrew McDonald returns home ahead of the summer.
The T20I series gets underway in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. The squad includes Matthew Wade (capt), Travis Head, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott