Australia will be without their star pacer Mitchell Starc and allrounder Glenn Maxwell for the first match of the upcoming three-ODI series against India, captain Pat Cummins confirmed on Thursday (September 21).

Before launching their campaigns in the World Cup, India, and Australia are all set to play a short ODI series. The series will get underway on Friday (September 22) in Mohali before the teams move to Indore and Rajkot for the second and third ODIs respectively.

And while Australia would have loved to be at full strength to finetune their preparations for the ODI World Cup, they will be without Mitchell Starc for the series-opener. The left-arm pacer has not played a competitive match for Australia since the conclusion of the Ashes series against England in July.

During the final Ashes Test, Mitchell Starc had played through the pain of a shoulder injury. He finished the series as the highest wicket-taker with 23 wickets and was adjudged Australia’s Player-of-the-Series. Later, he experienced pain in his groin and was ruled out of the T20I and ODI series against South Africa.

Pat Cummins’ update on Mitchell Starc:

Ahead of the series-opener, Australia captain Pat Cummins gave an update on himself as well as Mitchell Starc. Both the pacers as well as Steve Smith had missed the tour of South Africa due to injuries. But while Cummins and Smith are fully fit to play the first ODI, Starc is not. He also said that Glenn Maxwell will miss the first ODI too. Maxwell, who had suffered a horrific broken leg last year, aggravated his ankle during a training session in South Africa.

Speaking to the journalists ahead of the series opener, Cummins said: “Starc is here. He wants to play tomorrow but he will hopefully be available later on in the series. Same for Maxwell.”

Cummins further said that Starc has bowling in the nets and everything is going according to the plan for the fast-bowler.

Some positive news on the injury front for Australia with Pat Cummins set to return for tomorrow’s first ODI against India, and he’s hopeful of playing all three matches in the series!

The skipper also provided updates on Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell | #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/h2Xk6YZwcJ

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) September 21, 2023

Australia will be hoping that Starc recovers quickly ahead of the World Cup. He was the leading wicket-taker when Australia played a three-match ODI series against India earlier this year. The star pacer was also the highest wicket-taker in the last two editions of the ODI World Cup.

India vs Australia 2023, schedule:

September 22: First ODI, Mohali (D/N)

September 24: Second ODI, Indore (D/N)

September 27: Third ODI, Rajkot (D/N)

India squad for first two ODIs: KL Rahul (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

India squad for the third ODI: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

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