Australia will be without one of their most dangerous batsmen for their frenetic T20 series in India, as David Warner will be returning home following the nation’s World Cup victory.
Warner, Australia’s leading run-scorer with 48.63 during their World Cup triumph, has been omitted from the 15-man side scheduled to face India again just four days after the 50-over finale.
Instead, the experienced opener will return home before his final Test season, having previously indicated his intention to retire from the longest format after the New Year’s encounter against Pakistan in Sydney.
Emerging allrounder Aaron Hardie replaces veteran opener for five-match T20 series against India beginning on Thursday.
Steve Smith is a possible alternative for Warner at the top of the order for the five-match series, which begins on Thursday (12.30am Friday AEDT) in Visakhapatnam, with incumbents Travis Head and Matt Short also on the trip.
Smith remade himself as a T20 opener during an extraordinary five-game spell with the Sydney Sixers last summer, and was set to make his case for a spot in Australia’s T20 line-up during September’s 3-0 win over South Africa until he was forced out with a wrist injury.
Short was given his international debut alongside Sunday’s player of the final Head, with the right-hander impressing with a scorching 30-ball 66 in only his second match, with Warner also absent to manage his workloads ahead of the ODI World Cup.
With Warner’s departure, only seven members of Australia’s World Cup-winning ODI squad will be present in India for the series: Sean Abbott, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Smith, Marcus Stoinis, and Adam Zampa, as well as reserve spinner Tanveer Sangha.
Kane Richardson has also been included in place of Spencer Johnson in the initial squad released last month, after the left-armer worsened a hamstring injury acquired in his ODI debut against India in September.
Suryakumar Yadav will be the only player from India’s World Cup final XI to face the visitors in the series opener on Thursday, after selectors unveiled a new-look 15-man squad earlier today.
In the absence of regular captain Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar will captain the hosts, with Ishan Kishan and Prasidh Krishna the only other players named to the World Cup roster.
After resting the majority of their first-choice XI ahead of a white-ball tour of South Africa next month, India has named Shreyas Iyer as vice-captain for the final two T20s on December 1 and 3.
While one World Cup has just ended, the two countries will begin preparing for next year’s T20 tournament, which will be held in Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati, Raipur, and Bengaluru from November 23 to December 3.
The Australians will then return home to begin the home Test summer against Pakistan on December 14 in Perth.
Qantas T20 Tour of India
November 23: First T20, Vishakhapatnam
November 26: Second T20, Thiruvananthapuram
November 28: Third T20, Guwahati
December 1:Â Fourth T20, Raipur
December 3:Â Fifth T20, Bengaluru
Australia T20 squad: Matthew Wade (c), Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa
India T20 squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer (last two matches only)
