Australia announce squad for ODI series vs India

Australia made several changes to their squad ahead of the One-Day International (ODI) series against India which starts later this month.

Veteran pacer Peter Siddle, Test team regulars Usman Khawaja and Nathan Lyon have been recalled to the ODI squad.

Siddle, who last represented Australia in ODIs in 2010 will be joined by young pacers Jhye Richardson, Jason Behrendorff and Billy Stanlake in a new-look attack.

Batsmen Travis Head, Chris Lynn, D'Arcy Short and Ben McDermott, and all-rounder Ashton Agar have been axed from the squad while pacers Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins have been rested. Pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile has also been left out due to a minor niggle in his lower-back.

The three-ODI series will be played on January 12, 15 and 18.

"After a disappointing period in ODI cricket, the National Selection Panel along with team coaches have reviewed our performances across this format and we've identified a number of key areas that we feel we need to improve in order to help put this team in the best possible position to turn this period around to help defend our World Cup title.

"It's wonderful to have Peter back in the squad for the first time since 2010. His white ball cricket has improved considerably the older he has got, and his selection is great reward for his professionalism and strong leadership qualities," chief selector Trevor Hohns was quoted as saying by icc-cricket.com.

"Travis Head, Darcy Short and Chris Lynn have been unlucky to miss out. All three have had opportunities to cement their spots, but unfortunately, they have not been as productive as we would have liked in recent times when playing ODI cricket for Australia.

"Unfortunately for Ashton Agar the return of Nathan Lyon as one of our specialist spinners means there wasn't a place available in the squad for him," he added.

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Marsh (vc), Alex Carey (vc), Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Jason Behrendorff, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa.

--IANS

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