Australia have decided to rest their top fast bowlers Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood for the upcoming white-ball tour of Pakistan and Bangladesh. The selectors instead picked several young and less experienced players as the team continues preparing for next year’s T20 World Cup.Mitchell Marsh will captain Australia during the entire tour, which begins with a three-match ODI series against Pakistan on May 30. Young players Ollie Peake, who recently captained Australia’s Under-19 World Cup side, and uncapped all-rounder Liam Scott have earned call-ups. Riley Meredith and Billy Stanlake have also returned to the squad.
Senior all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has been left out of the T20 squad for the Bangladesh series, while young batter Joel Davies received his first call-up.The absence of Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood is mainly due to workload management. All three bowlers recently returned from injuries during the IPL and are now focusing on preparing for Australia’s upcoming two-Test home series against Bangladesh later this year.Several Australian players may also miss the Pakistan ODIs because of IPL playoff commitments. The IPL final is scheduled for May 31, which clashes with the tour.Players like Travis Head, Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett and Ben Dwarshuis are expected to join the squad later in Bangladesh once their IPL campaigns finish. Matthew Short remains part of the Pakistan ODI squad but will not travel to Bangladesh.The tour gives Australia a chance to test younger talent and build squad depth ahead of major international tournaments.Australia ODI squad for Pakistan: Mitchell Marsh (c), Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Riley Meredith, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Billy Stanlake, Adam ZampaAustralia ODI squad for Bangladesh: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Adam ZampaAustralia T20I squad for Bangladesh: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Adam Zampa
Pakistan series schedule:
- First ODI: May 30, Rawalpindi
- Second ODI: June 2, Lahore
- Third ODI: June 4, Lahore
Bangladesh series schedule:
- First ODI: June 9, Dhaka
- Second ODI: June 11, Dhaka
- Third ODI: June 14, Dhaka
- First T20I: June 17, Chattogram
- Second T20I: June 19, Chattogram
- Third T20I: June 21, Chattogram
