Injured Sean Abbott replaced by D’Arcy Short for India tour

Australia have named opener D’Arcy Short as the replacement for injured pacer Sean Abbott for their ODI tour of India. Abbott suffered a minor side strain while playing for Sydney Sixers during the Big Bash League, ruling him out of action for 3-4 weeks.

Australia already have a wealth of pace bowling options in their high-profile tour of India. Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Kane Richardson all feature in the squad. The selectors have thus decided to strengthen their batting department by including Short. The opener is an aggressive batsman who can also chip in with some handy wrist spin bowling. Short can also bat lower down the order with his pinch-hitting abilities.

On Short’s selection, Australian selector Trevor Hohns said:

“It is extremely unfortunate for Sean who is very much a part of our white-ball squad plans leading into the ICC T20 World Cup and the (2023 50-over) World Cup. D’Arcy offers the squad another spinning allrounder option along with Ashton Agar, which along with the four world-class fast bowlers and Adam Zampa balances the squad out nicely. His proven record and ability to bat anywhere in the order will also be a great asset to the squad.”

Australia will play three ODIs in India from 14th to 19th January. The matches will be played in Mumbai, Rajkot and Bengaluru.

Squad: Aaron Finch (c), D’Arcy Short, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner, Adam Zampa.