Few of the top and vital members of the Australia team, who are going to take part in the playoffs of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, will miss the warm-up games of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, stated to be co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America (USA).
The 2021 T20 World Cup champions, Australia will take on Namibia and the two-time champions West Indies, in a couple of practice games before the beginning of the tournament at the Port of Spain’s Queens Park Oval. However, they won’t have the access of the full squad for those two games due to the IPL commitments of a few members.
Mitchell Marsh to skip bowling in Australia’s warm-up games
When it comes to the Australia members being involved in the IPL playoffs, the list is quite of a decent size. Pat Cummins will lead the Sunrisers Hyderabad, where Travis Head will open the batting. Mitchell Starc is expected to play a vital role with the ball for the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Also Read: IPL 2024: “KKR Are Not Cocky Or Overconfident” – Wasim Akram’s Warning To SRH Ahead Of Qualifier 1
Both Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell will shoulder responsibility for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL eliminator. Most of these Australia players have been good nick going into the last week of the T20 tournament.
While speaking to cricke.com.au, the Australia head-coach, Andrew McDonald confirmed the news of few of their players skipping the warm-up games, ahead of the tournament. He also said that all these five IPL bound players will be available for their opener against Oman on June 05.
‘They’ll have a staggered entry now that they’ve made the finals.They’ll meet us in Barbados, and the guys who aren’t in the IPL finals, will meet us in Trinidad,’ McDonald expressed about the Australia players who are involved in the IPL.
‘We’re just trying to tailor the best individual preparation and bring it together as a team when we get to Barbados. Then we have four or five days there leading into the first game against Oman,’ ’ he added.
When it comes to their performances, Australia’s Pat Cummins besides his bowling has shown the captaincy skill too, by managing the players on and off the field. He has picked up 15 wickets so far in this IPL 2024 in 13 innings at an economy of 9.23.
The left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc has been struggling in this competition a little. The veteran Australia bowler has only 12 wickets in 11 innings, at an economy of 11.36, as he has been belted around the ground almost in every phases of the game.
Glenn Maxwell too has struggled for runs, as he has notched up only 52 runs in nine games at a strike rate of only 123.80, while all-rounder Cameron Green has smashed 228 runs at a strike rate of 145.22.
However, Travis Head has been in a phenomenal touch for the 2021-champions, as the left-handed opener has drilled 533 runs in 12 innings at an average of 48.45 with a strike rate of 201.13, including four half-centuries and one hundred.
The head-coach also added that their T20 World Cup captain Mitchell Marsh won’t be bowling during the warm-up games due to his recovery from the hamstring injury. The Australia captain missed the lion’s share of the IPL because of the injury.
In the thrilling clash, Australia will take on England on June 08, at the Bridgetown ground in Barbados.