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Australian youngster Cooper Connolly has gone on to replace Mitchell Marsh after the Aussie T20I skipper suffered a massive injury blow during the IPL 2026 campaign for LSG.
With the Lucknow Super Giants not qualifying for the IPL playoffs, Mitchell Marsh was soon likely to be available for the Pakistan vs Australian ODI series. Marsh had amassed 550+ runs in the season, also smashing a stunning hundred in the season, despite LSG's batting struggles.
Marsh was likely to step in as the stand-in skipper against their regular skipper, Pat Cummins. Cummins will not be available for Australia in the upcoming white-ball series scheduled against the likes of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Mitchell Marsh has been replaced by Cooper Connolly in the AUS vs PAK ODI series
Mitchell Marsh was declared unfit before the start of the series and was ruled out of the ODI series against Pakistan due to an ankle injury that he had picked up during his recent IPL campaign with the Lucknow Super Giants.
Cooper Connolly has been named as Mitchell Marsh's replacement in the upcoming series against Pakistan. Connolly will be seen as an all-rounder who could also open the innings for them and also bat lower down the order.
Connolly had made his IPL debut this season and had amassed 491 runs in the season with one century, two half-centuries, and several other knocks, which were not registered as milestones. Having played in ODIs for Australia, he had also scored his first half-century during a match-winning knock against India.
Travis Head is also not part of the Australian squad against Pakistan, and hence, Cooper Connolly's role in the side will be a major thing to look out for. Cameron Green, Matt Short, and Marnus Labuschagne have been added to the squad.
🚨 COOPER CONNOLLY REPLACES MITCH MARSH 🚨
— Rayham. (@RayhamUnplugged) May 28, 2026
- Cooper Connolly has been added to Australia's ODI squad for the three ODIs against Pakistan after Mitch Marsh was ruled out due to injury. (Sohail Imran) pic.twitter.com/hwxP8dtW54
Mitchell Marsh's availability for the Bangladesh series also remains uncertain
Nathan Ellis, the Australian seamer, has made his comeback into the squad after being ruled out of the IPL 2026 season with an injury. He was one of the major absentees in the Chennai Super Kings squad.
Mitchell Marsh, who is unavailable in this series against Pakistan, is currently injured, and nothing has been mentioned about his date of return. Marsh's availability for the season also remains uncertain.
Australia will feature in another ODI tour starting from the 9th of June against Bangladesh, and in Pat Cummins' unavailability, Mitchell Marsh's return would be handy for the Aussies.
Josh Inglis is set to step in as Australia's skipper against Pakistan
Josh Inglis has stepped in as the skipper of the Australian Men's National Cricket Team. The Australians had to reshuffle their captaincy options in the absence of senior players like Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, and Travis Head.
If Head had been available for this series, then he would have likely stepped into a captaincy role. Inglis is not likely to continue in the same role if Travis Head makes himself available for the next ODI tour of Bangladesh.
However, a busy Test schedule starting this year for the Aussies is likely to keep the likes of skipper Pat Cummins and Travis Head away from limited-overs cricket for some time.
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