NEW DELHI: Marnus Labuschagne on Thursday made the cut in Australia’s 15-member squad for the ODI World Cup in India at the last possible moment, riding on his impressive recent performances.
Despite not being included in the provisional squad, Labuschagne’s strong outings in South Africa and in India compelled his inclusion.
Travis Head, who broke his hand on the South Africa tour has also made it to the squad. The opener however is expected to miss Australia’s early matches due to the injury.
Head has been inluded in place of left-arm spinner Ashton Agar, who was part of the preliminary squad but couldn’t recover in time from a calf injury.
“This was a tough call but, unfortunately, we couldn’t carry both Travis and Ashton into the tournament with the injuries they have,” Chair of Selectors George Bailey said in a statement.
“We have made the decision to carry Travis through the early stages with the aim of him being available around the mid part of the tournament.
“He has been a really important player in this ODI team and we are hopeful his return can provide a positive impetus as it gets to the business end of the tournament.”
Glenn Maxwell is likely to be Australia’s second spin option, alongside Adam Zampa, after the off-spinner’s career-best 4-40 against India in the third one-day international on Wednesday.
Five-time champions Australia begin their campaign against hosts India in Chennai on Oct. 8.
Australia squad:
Pat Cummins (captain), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
(With inputs from Reuters)