Ashton Agar has been ruled out of the upcoming World Cup in India with a calf injury, seeing Marnus Labuschagne brought in as Australia’s squad was confirmed on Thursday night.
As first revealed by The Daily Telegraph, Agar has not recovered from the injury that ruled him out if the recent T20 series against South Africa.
The West Australian, named in Australia’s provisional World Cup squad earlier this month, returned home after one match against the Proteas for the birth of his first child, subsequently missing this week’s ODI series against India.
However, the left-armer tweaker will not join the Australian white-ball squad in India, with Labuschagne his replacement.
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Meanwhile, national selectors have named an injured Travis Head as he targets a mid-tournament return.
The South Australian, who suffered a fractured hand during the fourth ODI against South Africa, is not expected to recover until late October at the earliest.
If selectors decided to cut Head from the finalised 15-player squad, he could not be added back in unless there was an injury. However, Head can’t be replaced with another player now that they have decided to carry him in the squad until he recovers.
“This was a tough call but unfortunately, we couldn’t carry both Travis and Ashton into the tournament with the injuries they have,” Chair of Selectors George Bailey said.
“We have made the decision to carry Travis through the early stages with the aim of him being available around the mid part of the tournament.
“He has been a really important player in this ODI team and we are hopeful his return can provide a positive impetus as it gets to the business end of the tournament.
“Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell are progressing well through the rehabilitation of their respective injuries and it was pleasing to see them return to the playing eleven last night.”
Australia’s World Cup opener will be against host nation India at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday, October 8.
AUSTRALIA ODI WORLD CUP SQUAD
Pat Cummins (c)
Sean Abbott
Alex Carey
Cameron Green
Josh Hazlewood
Travis Head
Josh Inglis
Marnus Labuschagne
Mitchell Marsh
Glenn Maxwell
Steve Smith
Mitchell Starc
Marcus Stoinis
David Warner
Adam Zampa
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