Australia have finally made the much-anticipated change to the squad for the ICC T20 World Cup. The change looked imminent ahead of the clash against Sri Lanka. Steve Smith has been added to the squad as a replacement for Josh Hazlewood.
Australia have struggled with severe blows to their campaign. While the Aussies have been plagued with several injuries, which included the exclusion of players like Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, they are now further concerned with the skipper’s testicular injury.
Australia’s T20 World Cup campaign has been dented by the humiliating defeat to Zimbabwe in the second group-stage game. The Aussies failed to chase down the target with the bat, and hence, an in-form batter would be needed to keep them alive in the contest.
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Steve Smith officially added to the T20 World Cup squad
Following the injury to Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith was immediately asked to be available in Sri Lanka for the remainder of their group-stage games. Smith arrived in Sri Lanka, but Marsh could not be released, as there are grim chances of his comeback if Australia advances into the next stages of the World Cup.
However, their defeat to Zimbabwe has forced the Aussies to add Steve Smith to the 15-member squad, replacing Josh Hazlewood. The paceman was ruled out of the contest earlier this month with an Achilles injury.
The right-handed batter will be added to the squad in Kandy, and they will feature in the Monday evening game between Australia and Sri Lanka. He will be seen opening the innings alongside Travis Head; however, it will be interesting to see who he replaces in the XI.
Steve Smith added, with Mitchell Marsh still facing a sore
Australian T20 captain Mitchell Marsh returned to the nets on Sunday and trained through a complete session. He was swift and moved freely during the fielding drills and would be pushing to make a comeback against the co-hosts to keep their tournament hopes on track.
Marsh also batted for more than 45 minutes or so and struck some handsome blows out of the park. However, as per ICC regulations, the squad changes after the start of the tournament are to be approved by the Event Technical Committee, meaning Smith has been brought into the official 15-man group, considering Marsh might pull up sore again.
“ICC regulations stipulate any squad change must be submitted and activated on the day prior to a match,” on-duty selector Tony Dodemaide said.
Josh Inglis and Matthew Renshaw to be slotted in the middle order despite Smith’s return
Australia have been relei
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