Pat Cummins will be captain of Australian squad in World Cup

Australia, after displaying a great performance in the away Ashes series, is now preparing for the ICC World Cup 2023, and recently the Australian cricket board released the 18-player squad for the World Cup matches, in which they named Pat Cummins as the captain, which was not expected as the pacer recently got injured during the Ashes; he suffered a wrist injury but continued playing the fifth Ashes match with an injured wrist. As revealed by George Bailey (Australia’s chairman of selectors), it will take 6 weeks in the rehabilitation of the bowler, and he will be seen on the field after proper recovery.

Right-handed batter Marnus Labuschagne is not named in the squad, and that decision might be taken citing his performance in the limited overs format, as the Australian batter has an average of 31.37 in the 30 ODI matches he has played. Though he makes a regular appearance in the red-ball format for the team, he will not be seen in the World Cup. Apart from Pat Cummins and Steve Smith, the big showman Glenn Maxwell is in the squad, and even after the not-so-good performance of David Warner in the Ashes, he is being considered for the squad. Mitchell Marsh, after his great performance in recent matches, found his name in the squad.

The Australian side will play South Africa first in a five-match ODI series and then India just before the World Cup in a three-match ODI series. George Bailey is extremely confident in the squad selected and said that the players have the experience needed for the World Cup matches. The Australian board can make the required changes to the squad before September 28, as after that ICC approval will be needed.

Australian Squad: Pat Cummins ( C), Sean Abott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.