Cricket Australia (CA) have announced the 14-man squad for the ODI series against India, which will be played in their own backyard early next year. The hosts are set to play their first limited-overs series since the World Cup and their first assignment will be against India in January.
Their selection committee announced the ODI squad on Tuesday in which Marcus Labuchagne has earned an ODI call-up. Labuchagne is in the form of his life in Test cricket, and his limited-overs call-up thus looked pretty obvious.
Australia have also included Sean Abbott and Kane Richardson as the extra pacers who will help out the pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Trevor Hohns, the national selector, said that the squads have been formed keeping in mind the preparations for the World T20 in Australia next year and the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.
“Similar to the Test team, we are wanting the white ball squad to continue the form of the unbeaten T20 Series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 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 further justified the inclusion of Abbott and Richardson, saying it has come on the back of their good performances in T20 cricket.
“In terms of the bowling group we are sticking with the combination that are performing well. Sean Abbott and Kane Richardson are in the squad following the successful T20 campaign,” he added.
“Adam Zampa and his growing combination with Agar is also something the selectors want to see more of while Nathan Lyon remains in the one-day squad selection frame,” he added.
SQUAD: 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.
