Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh have been left out from Australia’s 14-man squad to face Pakistan in the three-match ODI series commencing at home due to paternity leave. This will provide a young Jake Fraser-McGurk with his chance to slot into the top order as an opener. Besides, a specialist opener will be Matt Short, who did well in Australia’s recent UK tour across white-ball formats. And also, Pat Cummins returns to this series. He hasn’t played any ODIs since the winning night in Ahmedabad on November 19, 2023.
Australia Focused On Champions Trophy
“This is our last ODI series before the Champions Trophy and the balance of the squad was focused on that as well as continuing to focus on preparation of individuals for the upcoming Test summer,” George Bailey, Australian chair of selectors, said in a statement as quoted by The Guardian
“The one-day side had a great result in the UK, particularly given illness and injury challenges. We view this is an opportunity to expand on that achievement in preparation for next February in Pakistan.”
What Does This Mean For Pakistan?
Both Australia and Pakistan have played 108 matches with Australia established their dominance as they’ve won 70 matches whereas Pakistan has just won 34. There are only 3 matches that have no result and 1 was tied.
With the two top players of Australia Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh out, Pakistan has a good chance of making a comeback and regain their momentum. The Pakistan Team has been consistently failing to produce results in all the three formats and despite making so many changes and trying different things they cannot bounce back.
AUS Vs PAK, ODI Series: Full Schedule
1st ODI: 4 November, starting at 9:00 am IST
2nd ODI: 8 November, starting at 9:00 am IST
3rd ODI: 10 November, starting at 9:00 am IST
Australia ODI Squad
Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Cooper Connolly, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
