Steve Smith and David Warner won't feature in the Australia-Pakistan clash
Cricket Australia have overlooked banned duo Steve Smith and David Warner for Australia's upcoming limited-overs tour of UAE against Pakistan. Pacer Mitchell Starc also misses out due to his injury as Australia announced an unchanged ODI squad that travelled to India.
The pacer hurt his pectoral muscle while bowling during the 1st Test against Sri Lanka last month, where he averaged 150kph and also claimed a ten for.
Starc was hopeful of making a comeback in the UAE series but a recurrence of the injury has ruled him out. Cricket Australia are hopeful of Starc recovering in time for the 2019 World Cup.
Banned duo Smith and Warner have been ruled out despite being eligible to play in the 4th and 5th ODI against Pakistan. Their 12-month suspension comes to an end on March 28.
National Selection Panel chairman Trevor Hohns has stated that the duo will return through the upcoming Indian Premier League.
"After consultation with members of the National Selection Panel, Greg Chappell and Head Coach Justin Langer, Interim EGM Team Performance Belinda Clark, CA Medical Team and both players, it has been agreed Steve Smith and David Warner will not be available for selection for the final two matches of the series against Pakistan," Hohns said in a statement.
"While their bans will be finished on March 28, Steve and David have been working through rehabilitation from elbow surgery and it has been agreed the best pathway for them to return to play is in the Indian Premier League, a strong competition which features some of the world’s best players."
Australia currently play a five-match ODI series against India where they are trailing 2-0 and will hope to make a return against the Men in Blue. Despite the results, Australia won their maiden T20I series on Indian soil which has impressed the selectors.
"The squad has started this tour well against a very good Indian side, they won the T20I Series and have pushed the hosts in the opening two matches of the ODI series in challenging sub-continent conditions," said Hohns.
"The squad is making pleasing progress ahead of the World Cup, and with three matches remaining in India and the five-match series against Pakistan to come, we believe they will benefit further from the continuity of playing together."
Australia play their first match against Pakistan on March 22 in Sharjah, before heading to Abu Dhabi and Dubai to complete five matches in 10 days.
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa
