Australian cricketer Marnus Labuschagne has expressed bewilderment at the T20 scheduling against the Indian team, merely four days after the World Cup finals. On Thursday evening, India will host Australia for the first of a five-match T20 series in the subcontinent. This marks the fourth bilateral white-ball series between the two nations since September of the previous year. Despite their triumph in the World Cup finals, seven members of Australia’s squad have chosen to stay in India for the T20s. However, opener David Warner withdrew from the series at the eleventh hour, and all-rounder Aaron Hardie from Western Australia has taken his place.
Labuschagne Finds it Perplexing
Labuschagne, who played a crucial role in Australia’s 6-wicket victory against India and scored an unbeaten half-century, confessed that it was “hard to fathom” why his World Cup teammates were participating in international cricket merely four days after the marquee match. He found it surprising that another match was scheduled for the following day.
“It is too hard to fathom how players are playing in days. But it is only the nature of scheduling; it is cricket match nature at the moment. We get three weeks till the first T20s test, so we can practice and get ready for the next challenges,” remarked Labuschagne.
Australia’s Squad
Travis Head, the player of the match for his heroic 137 (120) in the World Cup finals against India, is set to play in the T20 series for Australia. However, Mitchell Marsh has not confirmed whether he will be part of the T20 series as an opener in Vishakhapatnam.
“I am not sure if I will play that game or not. I am no selector or coach, but if he plays in the T20 series, then a miracle will happen in the game,” said Marsh. Pat Cummins expressed his anticipation of seeing Travis Head play in the T20s.
In the T20s, Steve Smith is expected to play as a batter in India as they audition for a role in next year’s T20 World Cup finals in the USA and West Indies. The new Welshman of New South was dropped from Australia’s T20 squad last year.
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Australia T20 Squad
The Australia T20 squad comprises Aaron Hardie, Matthew Wade, Sean Abbott, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Ellis, Tim David, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Steve Smith, Matt Short, Tanveer Sangha, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Marcus Stoinis.
India T20 Squad
The India T20 squad includes Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jitesh Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.
Conclusion
The Australian T20 team, led by wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, is set to face India at the Dr YS Rajashekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium in Vishakhapatnam on Friday morning, with the first ball scheduled at 12:30 am.