Galle (Sri Lanka), Feb 6 (PTI) Australia were on Thursday dealt more blows with captain Pat Cummins and senior pacer Josh Hazlewood being ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy owing to injuries.
Cummins has not recovered from the ankle niggle that plagued him towards the end of the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series against India, while Hazlewood is still recuperating from a calf strain.
Hazlewood’s last competitive outing was against India in the drawn third Test at Brisbane.
The development came close on the heels of all-rounder Marcus Stoinis’ shock retirement from ODIs and Mitchell Marsh’s withdrawal from the global tournament due to his failure to recover from a back injury.
Earlier in the day, Stoinis, who was named in the country’s Champions Trophy squad, abruptly announced his retirement from the 50-over international game to “fully focus on the next chapter” of his career, creating a fresh selection headache for the side that had been dealing with injuries to key players.
“Unfortunately Pat, Josh and Mitch are managing some ongoing injuries and haven’t come up in time for the Champions Trophy,” national selection panel chairman George Bailey said on Thursday.
“While disappointing, it does present a great opportunity for other players to perform for Australia in a world event,” said Bailey.
In the absence of Cummins, either Steve Smith or Travis Head could lead the reigning ODI World Cup winners in the Champions Trophy, which is starting in Pakistan from February 19.
The team is scheduled to begin its Champions Trophy campaign against old foes England on February 22 at Lahore, followed by matches against South Africa (February 25, Rawalpindi) and Afghanistan (February 28, Lahore).
Cummins and Hazlewood, both world-class fast bowlers in their own right, will need an extended period of rehabilitation before they receive the green signal to return to play, putting their involvement in the Indian Premier League, which follows the mega ICC event, also in doubt.
Cummins is set to lead Sunrisers Hyderabad while Hazlewood was bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 12.50 crore from the player auction.
Australia’s next international assignment after the upcoming Champions Trophy is the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa at Lord’s in mid-June, and the team would be keen to field their best XI in the title game. PTI AH UNG AH UNG
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