Australia announce squads for ODIs, first 2 T20Is at home against India, Starc among several returning stars

Melbourne [Australia], October 7 (ANI): Cricket Australia (CA) announced the squads for the home white-ball series against India on Tuesday, with pacer Mitchell Starc and opener Matt Short among the inclusions in the 50-over side for the three matches starting from October 19.

Starc, who announced his T20I retirement last month as the countdown to next year's ICC T20 World Cup continues, will be returning to the international fold to take on a power-packed Indian line-up, boosted by the returns of legends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, with a young Shubman Gill as their new ODI captain.

The return of Starc will add strength to an Australian bowling group missing the presence of their injured skipper, Pat Cummins, with T20I captain Mitch Marsh set to once again fill the role as captain against India during both the ODI and T20I contests, with the T20I leg starting from October 29.

Starc's return is one of four changes to Australia's ODI side that took on South Africa last month, with Short, Matt Renshaw and Mitchel Owen also earning recalls to the side that lost the series 2-1 against the Proteas.

Dropping out of the ODI squad are Aaron Hardie, Matthew Kuhnemann and Marnus Labuschagne, with Labuschagne to continue to play four-day cricket for Queensland in the domestic Sheffield Shield competition ahead of the upcoming Test series against England at the end of the year.

The Aussies also named a 14-player group for the first two T20I matches against India, with Nathan Ellis and Josh Inglis earning recalls after they missed the recent T20I series with South Africa.

The T20I series will be used as important preparation for Australia ahead of next year's ICC Men's T20 World Cup, and selection chair George Bailey also indicated the potential for further changes to the squad for the backend of the series.

"We have named a squad for the ODI series and first two games of the T20 series, as there will be some management through the back end of the series as individuals prepare for the summer through Sheffield Shield cricket," Bailey said as quoted by the ICC.

"The majority of the T20 squad will remain together as it's an important period in the build towards the World Cup next year, however, we are trying to strike a balance to ensure we simultaneously prepare certain individuals for the Test series ahead," he added.

Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Renshaw, Matthew Short, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

Australia T20I squad (first two games): Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa. (ANI)

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