Marnus Labuschagne Included In World Cup Squad As Australia Make Forced Change

The Australian cricket team have announced their final squad for the ICC World Cup 2023. Star batter Marnus Labuschagne, who wasn’t there in the provisional team, has been included in the team for the main tournament, set to begin on 5th October in India.

The Aussies had a couple of injury scares in the potential squad that they named. Travis Head was ruled out of the series against South Africa and India. The clouds were hovering over his place in the team due to the injury but he has retained his spot in the final 15 of the tournament. The left-hander will be unavailable for the first half of the tournament.

Ashton Agar has been ruled out of the ICC World Cup 2023 due to a calf injury and in his place, Marnus Labuschagne has been included in the team. The batter was added to the Australian squad for the South African series and he batted magnificently well there along with the three-match series against India.

Australia preferred picking Marnus Labuschagne into the team over the spinner. The Pat Cummins-led side will have just one specialist spinner in the team in Adam Zampa. This means that Glenn Maxwell is now likely to play a huge role with the ball.

Apart from Marnus Labuschagne getting into the team, there has been no change in the team. The five-time champions will be heading into the tournament as favorites. They recently won the last ODI against India and would be high on confidence.

Here’s the Australian squad for the ICC World Cup 2023:

Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc.

All the other teams are also likely to finalize their squads today.

Australia schedule for the ICC World Cup 2023

Here’s Australia’s schedule for the ICC World Cup 2023:

Sunday, October 8: India v Australia (Chennai), 2 pm
Thursday, October 12: Australia v South Africa (Lucknow), 2 pm
Monday, October 16: Australia v Sri Lanka (Lucknow), 2 pm
Friday, October 20: Australia v Pakistan (Bengaluru), 2 pm
Wednesday, October 25: Australia v Netherlands (Delhi), 2 pm
Saturday, October 28: Australia v New Zealand (Dharamasala), 10:30 am
Saturday, November 4: England v Australia (Ahmedabad), 2 pm
Tuesday, November 7: Australia v Afghanistan (Mumbai), 2 pm
Saturday, November 11: Australia v Bangladesh (Pune), 10:30 am