Cricket fans are bemused by the prospect of Australia remaining in India to play a five-match T20 series after the World Cup but stand-in skipper Matthew Wade is adamant the fixtures will have significant meaning.
An under-strength Australian side will match up against a similarly weakened India line-up at Visakhapatnam on Thursday night (Friday, 12:30am AEDT) in the first of five games.
For each team, they are five of only 11 scheduled T20 internationals planned between now and the World Cup in the Caribbean and US in June.
Time is running out for selectors to settle on their squad and this series is a chance for fringe players to put their name forward while Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Marsh, Josh Hazlewood, David Warner and Cameron Green are resting back home.
Wade was a left-field choice to captain the team with Marsh unavailable after leading the white-ball squads on the recent tour of South Africa and he is determined to make the most of this last chance to play international cricket.
World Cup final player of the match Travis Head is unlikely to suit up for game one of this series but Wade said the swashbuckling opener would get some game time in before returning home to prepare for the upcoming Test series against Pakistan.
“We will have a chat with him and see how he is feeling. There won’t be any pressure from us for him to play the first T20I, but he will definitely feature throughout the series,” Wade said.
“The T20 World Cup is not that far away and I think we have got 10 or 11 games before the battle kicks off again. Whether it’s tomorrow or throughout the series, you will see Travis play.
“With the World Cup not too far away, every game is important.”
Wade said the rest of the squad was physically fit but the likes of Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa and Steve Smith may need a mental freshen-up before playing again.
Travis Head celebrates his century during the World Cup final. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
“We are checking with the guys who played in the World Cup. We are trying to make sure that they are ready to go mentally and physically,” he said.
“So, there will be a few of those guys who will definitely miss out just to get themselves up and about for the next four games. Apart from the physical and mental fatigue, we have a full squad to pick from.
“Traditionally, the pitches are very, very good for batting over here. In the West Indies, they tend to slow up and take a little bit of spin. So, any opportunity we get on a slowish wicket with a bit of spin is an opportunity for someone to put their hand up and show what they can do.”
West Australian all-rounder Aaron Hardie was a late addition to the squad after Warner withdrew earlier this week and will compete with the likes of Matt Short, Marcus Stoinis and Sean Abbott for a berth in the T20 World Cup squad.
Suryakumar Yadav has been named India’s captain and will be the only member from the final that will be available to play in Friday’s opener in Visakhapatnam.
Australia: Matthew Wade (c), Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa.
India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer (last two matches only).
matth
Roar Guru
Plus they can basically audition in front of IPL owners
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
True, but they have the BBL, IPL and another half dozen matches to finalise the squad. I think they already have a pretty fair idea who will make up the bulk of spots in the squad, it's the remaining 2 or 3 that they'll likely focus on
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Smith didn’t play and three matches isn’t a lot to make important decisions for a World Cup.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
All fair points but didn't pretty much the same squad play three T20's against South Africa less than 3 months ago? I'd have thought that series should have answered most if not all the questions you posed. As DaveJ suggested earlier, it's probably a good chance to get in some practice in overseas conditions, but for the rest, if the selectors are worth their salt, they'd probably have a shortlist of about 16 or 18 guys right now, which likely won't change, unless someone does something extraordinary in the coming months and/or injuries play their part.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
I think they’re important still in terms of working out who might be in the first choice squad: • We need to work out who replaces Aaron Finch as Warner’s opening partner. Will it be Smith or Head (or both?) or will someone like Matt Short come into contention? • We pretty much know Mitch Marsh is going to be first drop so no need for him to play this series. • Glenn Maxwell has a pretty poor T20I record over the last few years, so it’s a good chance for him to get into some rhythm. • Stoinis and David seem to be front runners in that 5/6 spot. Does Josh Inglis join them? Is there life left in Matt Wade’s T20I career? Can Aaron Hardie push himself into contention for the World Cup? • There’s a chance for Tanveer Sangha to push for a World Cup position. Some of the pitches in the West Indies can take a fair bit of spin so could him and Zampa play together at times? • Can any of the bowlers build a case to challenge the “big 3” – especially Nathan Ellis? The timing of the series is horrible, but with only another 6 T20Is scheduled prior to the World Cup after this series, you’d want the selectors to have a fairly good idea of their likely squad after this series and use the remaining games next year to tweak the side and build combinations. Likewise for India, they may potentially look to overhaul their T20I team before the World Cup with the older players repeatedly freezing in knockout games over the last 10 years. So there’s a chance for the young guns to really press for World Cup selection and show a more fearless approach.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Great song
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Yeah, fair call, though it seems to be an expensive exercise for guys to get the sort of practice you're talking about. I suppose if it pays dividends in the future, it's probably a good investment.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
"And then we'll put our dark glasses on And we'll make love until our strength is gone And when the morning light comes streaming in We'll get up and do it again Get it up again" From Jackson Browne's "The Pretender" -------- There appears no rhythm to things when you have too much of a good thing.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Very true, though I guess it’s not bad idea to get some practice in overseas conditions for quite a few players who won’t get IPL contracts.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
So this series is important because there are only 6 more internationals between December and the World Cup? Clearly neither India nor Australia think these are terribly important otherwise they'd have chosen close to full strength sides. They'd have also chosen the bloke who' going to be captaining the team in the West Indies - hint: it isn't Wade. Even Wade doesn't think they're that crucial because he's seemingly not fussed when Travis Head plays. There's a heap of T20 cricket coming up for guys to sort out their skills and mindset, including BBL & IPL. This is an unnecessary series, no matter how you try to paint it.