Champions Trophy: 3 Important Australian players who missed out on the squad

Australia is often more than ready for ICC events and that is reflected in their cabinet that is filled with trophies. They are aiming for yet another trophy, this time, the ICC Champions Trophy but with a stand-in captain and a depleted squad. When they announced their provisional squad, it was full strength but within three weeks, they had to make as many as five changes for different reasons.

Here are 3 important players who missed out on Australia’s squad

1. Pat Cummins

Pat Cummins played the Border Gavaskar Trophy managing an ankle injury and that has cost him the Champions Trophy. He failed to recover in time for the showpiece event and Australia will badly miss him. He is an astute captain and a wicket-taking bowler. Having led Australia to the World Cup around 15 months ago only, Cummins would’ve loved to lead a similar group of players to glory yet again. But he will be a massive miss for the Aussies in the tournament.

2. Marcus Stoinis

Marcus Stoinis is another big miss from the squad especially due to his all-round abilities. Stoinis bats in the top six for the Aussies and then also bowls more than five overs more often than not in ODIs. His ability to break partnerships and bat according to the situation made him a special player in the format. But to everyone’s surprise and shock, Stoinis announced retirement from ODIs earlier this month and thereby, the selectors had to take him out of the Champions Trophy squad.

3. Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc was the last Aussie player to pull out of the Champions Trophy. He looked ginger during the second Test against Sri Lanka but has decided not to play due to personal reasons. He pulled out on the last day when the ICC had asked teams to confirm their final squad for the tournament. Starc’s ability to strike with the new ball and clean up the tail will be missed. His absence has made the bowling attack look even thin and with Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins already not there, the Aussies will definitely lack experience in the Champions Trophy.

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