Australia vs India 2019: Australia Set To Rest Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins And Josh Hazlewood For ODI Series

Australia is set to rest its fast-bowling trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood for the first three ODI games against India in a bid to manage their workload ahead of a busy international calendar.  Cummins has been Australia’s top performer with both the ball and the bat in the just-concluded Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, the head coach Justin Langer insisted that it’s a great selection “conundrum” for the hosts for the ODI series which begins in Sydney on January 12.

Langer said Australia needs to keep its players fit and fresh ahead of busy 2019, which includes a World Cup and an Ashes tour. For the same, he hinted that Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood may be rested in the ODI series against India ahead of the two Tests against Sri Lanka.

Pat Cummins missed a major part of 2018 summer with injury:

”It’s the great conundrum for us, really, how we manage our bowlers. For example, we might not play them in the next three one-dayers so they’re ready for the next two (Tests) to keep them fresh,” Langer was quoted as saying by ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’. He (Cummins) has been brilliant, he’s been outstanding but then – as soon as we do that they want to play,” he added.

”Then, everyone else would be on our back saying: ‘Why aren’t they playing every single game?’ But if you play every game – we’ve also got a World Cup and Ashes next year – we want him fresh for those things.”  So getting that management right and staying true to the management, so we can have him (Cummins) fit and firing – we’ve got to be strong with that because there’s got to be a lot of people with different opinions as to whether they should play every game,” he said.

Pat Cummins has been Australia’s best fast bowler in the first three Tests against India with 14 wickets at an average of 20.07. But unfortunately, he missed the ODI series in England and the two Tests against Pakistan in the UAE owing to injuries.

Well, it seems like a good decision to rest the players with a hectic schedule on its way. Meanwhile, it is also important for Cricket Australia to put their best squad against a team like India, who can wreak havoc.