Starc ruled out of India tour
Melbourne, Feb. 7: Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Starc was on Thursday ruled out of the limited-overs tour of India due to a pectoral injury while allrounder Mitchell Marsh was ignored for the two T20s and five ODIs starting February 24.
Eleven players in the 16man squad featured in the home series against India last month, when Australia lost 1-2. The touring Indian team also won the Test series Down Under for the first time and drew the three-match T20 series 1-1.
Starc suffered the injury, which causes strain in the shoulder, arm and chest, during the final day of the second Test between Sri Lanka in Canberra three days ago.
“Unfortunately, scans have revealed that Mitchell Starc sustained a substantial tear to his left pec muscle while bowling on the final day of the Test match in Canberra,” national selector Trevor Hohns said in a statement.
“Peter Siddle and Mitch Marsh are unfortunate to miss out, but with such a big schedule ahead opportunities may well present themselves,” Hohns added.
Aaron Finch will captain the side on the tour starting with the T20 International in Vizag on February 24. The second game will be played in Bengaluru on February
27. The ODIs will be held in Hyderabad (March 2), Nagpur (March 5), Ranchi (March 8), Mohali (March
10) and Delhi (March 13).
Australia T20I/ODI squad: Aaron Finch (captain), Pat Cummins, Alex Carey, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan CoulterNile, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa.