World Cup Spots are Still Up For Grabs, Says Australia Head Coach Justin Langer

Justin Langer, the head coach of the Australian Cricket team offered a lifeline to the players who missed out from the upcoming tour of India, saying there is still time to be in the squad for the forthcoming ICC World Cup 2019 in England and Wales.

Meanwhile, earlier today, Australia named their 15-member squad for the India tour starting from February 23. The selectors dropped Peter Siddle, Mitch Marsh and Billy Stanlake while Chris Lynn and Matthew Wade among the unlucky players to miss out. But Justin Langer reveals that players who will not visit the subcontinent can still be in the World Cup team. They will play a five-match series against India while another five-match series will follow against Pakistan before they pick their squad for the showpiece event.

“Whether you are on this tour or not, there is still going to be spots up for grabs,” Langer said in Perth on Thursday.

“But the World Cup is going to come up sooner than you know and guys like Steve Smith and Dave Warner are obviously going to bang very hard on the door. So there is going to be some competition there, but that’s good as there is going to be some guys that need to stay on their toes the entire time and keep playing great cricket every time we play,” he added.

Starc injury was strange

Meanwhile, Mitchell Starc picked up an unusual injury during the final day’s play of the second Test against Sri Lanka. But Justin Langer knows how vital the left-arm pacer is for Australia’s World Cup defence. Moreover, Langer remains confident the fiery fast bowler will return in time for the series against Pakistan.

The 29-year-old was absolutely brilliant with the ball during Australia’s 2-0 win in the Test series against Sri Lanka. He returned with a ten-wicket haul in the second Test as the hosts completed a whitewash.

“It’s almost two steps forward and one step back,” Langer said of Starc. “It (the injury) was the most bizarre thing as he didn’t even feel it when he was playing. He just woke up the next day when he was in bed and his left pec had all blown up.

“It’s really disappointing for him as he bowled so well in that last Test match. (It’s) disappointing for us as we would have loved to have him there, but hopefully, he will be right for that second leg against Pakistan,” he concluded.