LAHORE: Australia’s all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has been ruled out of three-match one-day international (ODI) series against Pakistan after suffering an injury during the team’s practice session at Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.
The series is part of the 13-team ODI Super League in which every match carries 10 points, with the top seven qualifying automatically for the World Cup next year.
Australia are currently seventh and Pakistan 10th, but both have played just three of their eight scheduled series. India has already qualified as host.
The 30-year-old injured his hip-flexor during the fielding drill and is expected to be ruled out of the white-ball games. Cameron Green, who played a brilliant role in the recently concluded Test series, will replace Marsh.
“He’s injured his hip-flexor, we think, at training. He sustained injury in a fielding drill. It was a high-intensity, lateral movement drill, and he bent down to pick it up one-handed and went to throw and felt a twinge, “Australian white-ball captain Aaron Finch was quoted as saying on Monday.
Cameron Green has only played one ODI for Australia. Finch is confident that he will replicate his Test performances in the fifty-over games.
“Cam will play and probably bat in that middle-order role,” Finch said. “We’ve seen he’s a super talented cricketer. He’s someone who has been quite consistent in his Test career, his impact with the bat and ball can’t be understated,” he added.
Finch hopes new players such as Sean Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Josh Inglis and Ben McDermott will rise to the occasion despite their inexperience.
“At times that can be a real blessing because you have the ability for guys to just play freely and express themselves,” Finch said, adding: “It’s about trying to build the depth in the squad and experience in players.”
Australia were already without key players David Warner, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Steven Smith for various reasons. All five senior players were part of the team that won the three-match Test series 1-0 last week. The first ODI of the series starts from Tuesday.
Teams:
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Abdullah Shafique, Asif Afridi, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-Ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Zahid Mahmood, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir
Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Ben McDermott, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Adam Zampa
