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Opinion
Australia are rolling the dice on their World Cup squad with Travis Head included despite his broken hand and only one specialist spinner in the final 15-man squad.
Marnus Labuschagne has been recalled after initially being left out of the provisional squad, taking the place of Ashton Agar, who has been omitted after suffering a calf injury early in the limited-overs tour to South Africa earlier this month.
Head broke his hand while batting in South Africa and is set to miss the first half of the tournament with a view to returning to the top of the order for the closing pool matches and semi-finals.
It is a major risk to be going through the early rounds carrying an injured player with Australia up against host nation India to open the World Cup on October 8 before facing the rejuvenated South Africa, dark horses Sri Lanka and the always dangerous Pakistan in their first four matches.
Each team in the 10-nation tournament plays each other with the top four sides going through to the semi-finals. Australia will probably need to win at least six of their matches to qualify – Afghanistan, the Netherlands and Bangladesh are considered unlikely to make the final four so the matches against the other big guns are crucial.
While Labuschagne has been in solid form in recent ODI appearances, the lack of a second specialist spinner on India’s turning wickets could be a huge mistake for Australia.
Adam Zampa, who has been struggling recently after conceding plenty of runs in the warm-up games against South Africa and India, will be the focal point of Australia’s spin with all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and Head, when he’s fit, chipping in with offies.
Maxwell has only played once since July, making five with the bat and taking 4-40 in Australia’s ODI win over India earlier this week which ended a five-game losing streak, after taking paternal leave and experiencing soreness with his ongoing ankle injury.
Do you think the Indians will see Australia’s squad and might be tempted to tell their curators to prepare pitches that may turn a touch? They have form in this department.
Labuschagne is likely to bat at No.4 when Australia take on India to start the World Cup with Steve Smith pushed up to first drop and Mitchell Marsh opening with David Warner.
Marnus Labuschagme. (Photo by Charle Lombard/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
The lack of another spinning option shows a lack of planning by the selectors. They blooded Queensland left-armer Matt Kuhnemann on the tour to Sri Lanka last year but then picked uncapped NSW leg spinner Tanveer Sangha for the recent series in South Africa and India after a year out with a back injury.
Sangha is not ready for a showpiece tournament like the World Cup so the selectors should have plucked Kuhnemann out of the Marsh Cup ranks when Agar was ruled out like they did in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in March when he made a successful entry into Test cricket.
Fast bowling all-rounder Sean Abbott seems surplus to requirements in India with captain Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc ahead of him in the pecking order and the likes of Cameron Green and Marcus Stoinis also on board to provide seam options.
Chief selector George Bailey said Agar could be drafted into the squad as a replacement player midway through the World Cup but an already selected squad member would have to be ruled out injured for Agar to then be allowed to play.
“This was a tough call but unfortunately, we couldn’t carry both Travis and Ashton into the tournament with the injuries they have,” Bailey said.
Adam Zampa. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images for ECB)
“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.”
Sangha and Matt Short will continue touring with the squad for the warm-up matches against the Netherlands at Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday and Pakistan at Hyderabad on Tuesday while Starc (groin) is good to go for the Cup after making his return in the ODI win at Rajkot.
AUSTRALIA WORLD CUP SQUAD: Pat Cummins (c), 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.