Australia left with only nine players for T20 World Cup warm-up match due to IPL schedule

Australia vs West Indies. (Photo Source: X(Twitter)

The Australian team is short on players, as they prepare for their first T20 World Cup warm-up match against Namibia in Port of Spain, Trinidad on Wednesday, May 29. Only nine players are currently in the West Indies, while others are expected to join before their second and final warm-up match against the home side on Friday.

Australia are struggling to assemble 11 players for their fixture against Namibia and there’s a possibility that just eight players from their squad of 15 could be available for the contest should skipper Mitchell Marsh opt out, as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury that cut short his Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 campaign. The star all-rounder sustained the injury after playing just four games for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024 and subsequently returned home.

Meanwhile, Pat Cummins, Travis Head, and Mitchell Starc, who are a part of Australia T20 World Cup squad, featured in the IPL 2024 final between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday, May 26. The left-arm pacer won the Player of the Match award for his fiery spell with the new ball, as he helped the Knights win their third IPL title.

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Cricket Australia (CA) decided to give the World Cup squad members who played in IPL 2024 a short break to rest before returning to action for the marquee ICC event set to get commence from June 2.

Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell (Both Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and Marcus Stoinis (Lucknow Super Giants) are yet to arrive in Barbados. While Stoinis is expected to reach only after the Namibia practice match, the pair of Green and Maxwell will join by the end of this week.

“We’re going to be undermanned. But it is a practice game. The guys who need to play will play as much as they can and we’ll figure it out from there. It’s important to be flexible. Guys who have been at the IPL have been playing a lot of cricket,” Marsh was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

“We prioritised giving them a couple of days at home to see their families, refresh, and play the long game for this tournament. We’ve also got guys that have played in the final tonight (Sunday). We will get our 15 (all together) eventually, but really important that we give them a break, even if it’s just a couple of days at home, that’s really important,” Marsh added.

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Head coach Andrew McDonald and other members of the Aussie support staff like Brad Hodge, George Bailey and Andre Borovec might take the field should they be needed.