Australia have announced their XI for the first ODI against Pakistan set to take place on Monday (November 4) in Melbourne Cricket Ground. Pat Cummins will be returning to lead the ODI side for the first time after the 2023 World Cup triumph.
Interestingly, the hosts will have a fresh opening pair in the form of Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk. This comes on the back of Travis Head and Mitch Marsh being absent due to paternity leave.
Short recently opened for the side in the T20I as well as ODI series against England. The ODI series saw him return with 101 runs in three innings, including a match-winning knock of 58 off 30 in a series decider. Meanwhile, Fraser-McGurk impressed with his fiery knocks in IPL 2024 and scored a fifty in his latest T20I appearance against England.
Both openers will be vying to partner up with Head for the Champions Trophy, scheduled to take place in February-March next year. It will be interesting to see how they perform, given skipper Cummins has given them fill license to play their natural game
Although, Sean Abbott returned wicketless in three ODI appearances against England, he still finds a place in the side. This is due to Josh Hazlewood playing Sheffield Shield to prepare for the five-test match series against India
Australia XI for 1st ODI vs Pakistan: Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Steve Smith, Josh Inglis (wk), Marnus Labuschagne, Aaron Hardie, Glenn Maxwell, Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa
Pat Cummins to skip 3rd ODI against Pakistan
Pat Cummins is expected to feature in the first two ODIs and skip the final one slated to take place in Perth. This is in regard to managing his workload and making his red-ball return.
Cummins said he is feeling fresh ahead of the ODI series going into the summer, where they will host India and also tour Sri Lanka. He took an eight-week break in his quest to keep him fully fit and energized for lifting the Border Gavaskar Trophy for the first time since 2014/15.
As per the plan, the first two ODIs will ensure Cummins is match ready and then switch to the red-ball mode.
Here’s what he said (via ESPNcricinfo):
“I feel like the ODIs will give me a good lead in and obviously the two weeks before the first Test, we’ll make sure we do loads of red-ball and centre wickets to try and replicate it.”
Pat Cummins missing out on the Perth game will mean Australia need to find a leader. The likes of Steve Smith and Josh Hazlewood will also likely miss the game due to the same reasons.
