As Cricket Australia announced the squad for the white-ball tour of Pakistan, experienced pacers like Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood were absent from the roster, with the board deciding to add plenty of fresh faces. The series, which is scheduled to begin on May 30, does clash with the final phase of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. The likes of Cummins and Hazlewood are likely to qualify for the playoffs, which begin on May 26, while the tournament’s final is scheduled to be held on May 31.
Cricket Australia’s selection committee called up the captain of their recent ICC Men’s Under 19 Cricket World Cup campaign, Ollie Peake, and uncapped all-rounder Liam Scott for the three matches against Pakistan that commence on May 30.
Mitchell Marsh, whose Lucknow Super Giants have already been knocked out from the IPL, will captain the Aussies in all white-ball fixtures against Pakistan and Bangladesh as the build-up continues to next year’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, while there is no room for veteran all-rounder Glenn Maxwell in the T20I squad as young batter Joel Davies earns a call-up for the T20Is against Bangladesh in June.
The pace duo of Riley Meredith and Billy Stanlake are among the players winning a recall for the Pakistan leg of the tour.
It has also been reported that ODI captain Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc will not feature in either Pakistan or Bangladesh. After returning from respective injuries during the ongoing Indian Premier League, the pace trio will now switch their focus to building up their red-ball workloads ahead of August’s two-Test home series against Bangladesh, as per cricket.com.au.
Even other Australian players whose teams are likely to feature in the IPL playoffs will miss the three-match ODI series in Pakistan.
Travis Head (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Cooper Connolly, Xavier Bartlett and Ben Dwarshuis (all Punjab Kings) will join the squad in Bangladesh ahead of that three-match ODI series once their IPL commitments have concluded.
Matthew Short retained his spot in the ODI squad to face Pakistan but has been left out of the Bangladesh leg as Head, Connolly, Bartlett and Dwarshuis return.
Australia ODI squad for Pakistan: Mitchell Marsh (c), Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Riley Meredith, Oliver Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Matt Short, Billy Stanlake, Adam Zampa
Australia ODI squad for Bangladesh: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Adam Zampa
Australia T20I squad for Bangladesh: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Adam Zampa
Pakistan series schedule:
First ODI: May 30, Rawalpindi
Second ODI: June 2, Lahore
Third ODI: June 4, Lahore
Bangladesh series schedule:
First ODI: June 9, Dhaka
Second ODI: June 11, Dhaka
Third ODI: June 14, Dhaka
First T20I: June 17, Chattogram
Second T20I: June 19, Chattogram
Third T20I: June 21, Chattogram
With IANS Inputs
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