Australia Shakes Up T20I Squad Mid-India Series: Six Players Axed in Major Overhaul

In a significant development for the Australia cricket squad, Steve Smith and Adam Zampa have been sent back home from India before the 3rd T20I match in Guwahati. Cricket Australia made the decision to recall the two star players with three more matches remaining in the series. Additionally, four other players, including Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis, and Sean Abbott, will also return home after the 3rd T20I as part of workload management.

To fill the void left by the departing players, Australia has announced two replacements for the series. Wicketkeeper-batter Josh Phillippe and big-hitter Ben McDermott will join the team ahead of the 3rd T20I in Guwahati. Furthermore, Ben Dwarshuis from New South Wales and spinner Chris Green will be added to the squad in Raipur ahead of the fourth match.

The updated Australia squad for the 3rd T20I includes Matthew Wade as captain, along with Jason Behrendorff, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Chris Green, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Ben McDermott, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, and Kane Richardson.

Australia’s stand-in head coach Andre Borovec expressed his satisfaction with Steve Smith’s performance after the second match. He praised Smith’s intent and stated that the team had planned to give him an opportunity at the top of the batting order.

Australia is slated to play a total of 10 T20 internationals before the T20 World Cup in the USA and Caribbean next year.

The Australia T20 squad now consists of Matthew Wade as captain, Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Chris Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (withdrawn), Ben McDermott, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith (withdrawn), Marcus Stoinis (withdrawn), Kane Richardson, and Adam Zampa (withdrawn).

Meanwhile, the India T20 squad includes Suryakumar Yadav as captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad as vice-captain, Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma as wicketkeeper, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, and Shreyas Iyer for the last two matches only.