Australia announce 14-member squad for India ODI series: Australia have named a surprising refurbished squad for ODI series against India.

Australia’s selection committee has put on display another astonishing combination, albeit in a different format this time round. The 14-member ODI squad for the three-match ODI series against India comprises of as many as nine exclusions and seven inclusions from the last ODI series which Australia played against South Africa at home.

The fact that Australia have named a refurbished squad with the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 looming in front of them calls for this announcement to be a brave one on the part of the Australian selectors.

The biggest source of amazement is that of fast bowler Peter Siddle, who last played an ODI for Australia in 2010 and has been recalled to the squad now. “His white ball cricket has improved considerably the older he has got, and his selection is great reward for his professionalism and strong leadership qualities,” Horns said of the 34-year old Siddle.

Among the other fast bowlers who have been called up are Jhye Richardson and Jason Behrendorff. With Stanlake being retained from the South Africa series, Australia named four fast bowlers.

“We have rewarded both Jhye [Richardson] and Jason [Behrendorff] as they continue to put up strong performances with the white ball. Jason provides us with a left arm option in the absence of Mitchell Starc and is very capable of taking wickets early in the innings,” he said.

The other inclusions are in the form of batsmen Usman Khawaja and Peter Handscomb, all-rounder Mitchell Marsh and premier off-spinner Nathan Lyon. “With a focus on improving our ability to post competitive totals we’ve recalled Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb and Mitch Marsh to the squad.

“Usman is a batsman we know can put vital runs on the board at the top of the order, and Peter is not only a fine player of spin bowling, he’s also a batsman we know can hold an innings together while keeping the scoreboard ticking over,” Horns was quoted.

It is worth mentioning that the inclusion of Mitchell Marsh in the squad doesn’t seem to go well with the fans of the Australian team majorly due to his recent dismal form. Perhaps, it was the selectors’ quest for some experience which made them name this squad for the ODI series starting on January 12 at Sydney.

The national selectors in Trevor Horns, Greg Chappell and Head Coach Justin Langer surprised the entire nation by including only seven players from the last ODI series. While the fast bowling trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins have been rested, the others have been dropped.

Lower back soreness was the reason cited behind not including fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile. However, batsmen Head, Chris Lynn, D’Arcy Short and Ben McDermott and allrounder Ashton Agar have all been dropped.

Australia announce 14-member squad for India ODI series

1) Aaron Finch (c) 2) Jason Behrendorff 3) Alex Carey (wk) 4) Peter Handscomb 5) Usman Khawaja 6) Nathan Lyon 7) Mitch Marsh 8) Shaun Marsh 9) Glenn Maxwell 10) Jhye Richardson 11) Peter Siddle 12) Billy Stanlake 13) Marcus Stoinis 14) Adam Zampa

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