Australia has announced its playing XI for the opening match of the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe to be played on Sunday, August 28 at the Riverway Stadium in Townsville, Queensland.
Marnus Labuschagne has been surprisingly left out of the first ODI, and Australia captain Aaron Finch revealed that they want to try out an allrounder-heavy side and that’s why the star batter was overlooked. There are also a lot of changes in the positions of the players.
According to cricket.com.au, Australian wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey has been promoted to No. 4, while Steve Smith will bat at No. 3 and Mitchell Marsh has been demoted to No. 6.
Finch said: “The reasoning behind Marnus (Labuschagne) is we’re just going with an allrounder-heavy side. Two quicks plus (leg-spinner Adam) Zampa, and Cameron Green as the fourth genuine bowler. And then using (Mitchell) Marsh, (Marcus) Stoinis, (Glenn) Maxwell as our fifth bowler effectively.”
He further spoke about the changes, “It’s a way of lengthening our batting, and I think it’s important we keep trying to juggle the structure of the team around a little bit over the next little while. We don’t want to get pigeonholed into playing in one particular structure of the team.”
Australia XI for first ODI: Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Steve Smith, Alex Carey (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
Zimbabwe Squad: Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva (c), Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Tony Munyonga, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams.
(With IANS Inputs)
