Starc out, Faulkner back in Australia squad for India tour

Melbourne, August 18

Australia on Friday recalled the pace duo of James Faulkner and Nathan Coulter-Nile for the five-match ODI series against India next month but Mitchell Starc was left out owing to a foot injury.

Faulkner, who was the man of the match in the 2015 World Cup final, was omitted from Australia’s Champions Trophy squad.

The 27-year-old has played 67 ODIs, grabbing 95 wickets.

India and Australia are set to play five ODIs and three Twenty20s between September 17 and October 13.

“Pacemen James Faulkner and Nathan Coulter-Nile have been recalled to Australia’s ODI squad for their tour of India in September and October, as have allrounders Ashton Agar and Hilton Cartwright,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.

The 29-year-old Coulter-Nile, who has also been picked in the Twenty20 squad, has been battling injuries in recent years, which has resulted in a mere 16 ODI appearances. He has 27 wickets to his credit in the 50-over format.

Cricket Australia stated that Coulter-Nile had been picked after having “shown impressive signs in the Indian Premier League earlier this year”. The pacer turns up for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

“Nathan brings raw pace to the side with good variation.

“It is great to see him back from injury and we are hopeful he will have a big impact in this series,” selector Trevor Hohns said.

“James Faulkner is a solid one-day campaigner and is very familiar with subcontinent conditions, coming off a very good tour of Sri Lanka last year. We hope he will take his chance in returning to the one-day side,” he added.

In the left-out list, Starc was joined by all-rounder Moises Henriques and the injured troika of Chris Lynn, John Hastings and James Pattinson.

All of them were a part of the squad that competed in the Champions Trophy in June.

“Starc has been rested for the entire tour as he continues his recovery from a foot injury and he will now target a return in the domestic one-day cup for NSW Blues ahead of the Magellan Ashes,” the CA said.

In the T20 squad, pacers Jason Behrendorff and Kane Richardson have been selected, while Josh Hazlewood has not been included for the T20 leg of the tour.

Veteran all-rounder Dan Christian and wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Paine have been named, while Coulter-Nile has also been named for the 20-over matches.

“Dan is a very experienced allrounder who can be a very dangerous batsman. He had a solid IPL season this year and we believe his bowling will be well suited to the conditions we will face in India,” T20 selector Mark Waugh said of Behrendorff.

Skipper Steve Smith and David Warner have returned to the T20 side after missing this year’s series against Sri Lanka due to a clash with the Test tour of India.

Chennai, Bengaluru, Nagpur, Indore and Kolkata are scheduled to host the five-match ODI series while Hyderabad, Ranchi and Guwahati will be venues for the T20s.

The squads:

Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (C), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.

Australia T20 squad: Steve Smith (C), David Warner (VC), Jason Behrendorff, Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa. PTI