Cricket Australia (CA) has announced their 15-member squad for the eagerly anticipated ICC Cricket World Cup in India which will commence on October 5. The five-time champions will begin their campaign against hosts India on October 8 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
In the final roster, Australia made one change from the provisional squad, replacing injured Ashton Agar with Marnus Labuschagne. Agar will miss the entire tournament due to a calf injury. Meanwhile, Labuschagne has earned the call-up for his consistent performances in their last ODI series against South Africa and India, respectively.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Australia, here’s your squad to take on the ODI World Cup in India starting on October 8!
Congratulations to all players selected 👏 #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/xZAY8TYmcl
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) September 28, 2023
The Kangaroos will continue to be captained by Pat Cummins during the ODI World Cup and will go into their campaign with just one specialist spinner Adam Zampa. Meanwhile, star allrounder Glenn Maxwell proved his worth in the final ODI of the three-match series against India in Rajkot, by producing a career-best 4/40 from 10 overs.
Ashton Agr, though, played alongside Marnus Labuschagne with the bat in the first ODI in South Africa before suffering a calf injury that kept him out of the next two games and forced him to return home for the birth of his first child.
Given that Travis Head needed at least another four weeks to recover from his hand injury, Australia will technically have a 14-man roster for the opening stages of the competition. The 29-year-old’s glove was struck by South Africa’s Gerald Coetzee’s delivery in the fourth ODI, and subsequent scans revealed a fracture in a joint on his left hand.
Tanveer Sangha and Matt Short will stay in India with the team at least through the end of the warm-up games. The five-time champions have two exhibition games against Pakistan and the Netherlands on October 3 and September 30, respectively, to choose their starting lineup for their highly anticipated World Cup opener.
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