Australia confirm playing XI for 1st T20I against West Indies as PBKS batter set to debut
Australia has confirmed the playing eleven for the 1st T20I against West Indies as the PBKS opener is set to make his debut.
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The veteran Australia opening batter, Matthew Short, has been ruled out of the Caribbean tour as the management has recalled Jake-Fraser McGurk for the opening clash of the five-match series. Short pulled up the injury during a training session ahead of the Jamaica game and was sent home with a minor side strain.
Mitchell Owen, the Punjab Kings’ opener, who helped the Hobart Hurricanes win the last summer during the Big Bash League (BBL), is set to make his T20I debut. The right-handed batter has smashed 960 runs in 43 innings at an average of 25.26 and a strike rate of nearly 186, thanks to two centuries and two half-centuries at the best score of 108 runs.
Cooper Connolly will bat at seven after Tim David, who was recovering from a hamstring injury playing for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has been given a break. Jake Fraser-McGurk will now have a golden opportunity to develop his national career of 113 runs in seven T20Is with a strike rate of 143.03. He had a fabulous 2023-24 summer when he celebrated a List A century in just 29 balls in the domestic One-day Cup.
Australia confirm playing XI for 1st T20I against West Indies
With just nine days for five encounters across Jamaica and St Kitts, the selectors were cautious with Short, who is likely to make a return for the home white-ball internationals against South Africa in Darwin on August 10. The veterans, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, and Alex Carey, returned home after their 3-0 clean sweep victory in the Test series.
‘We've got guys that have been on the fringes when those (all-format) guys are around, but in this series they come together as our attack and as our unit, and we've spoken about really being connected and working together, and they'll lead the team.’ Mitchell Marsh expressed during an interaction. The selectors are keeping an eye on a few sets of players for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka, which is set to take place next February.
Australia’s playing XI for 1st T20I against West Indies
Mitch Marsh (c), Jake Fraser-McGurk, Josh Inglis (wk), Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Owen, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa
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