The fiery Australian pacer, Mitchell Starc has been recalled to the called upon to replace Billy Stanlake in the Australian squad for the third and final T20I against India in Sydney after the latter was ruled out of the match. Nathan Coulter-Nile had replaced Nathan Coulter-Nile in the playing XI for the second T20I in Melbourne with the tall pacer straining his ankle during a warm-up ahead of the start of the match at the MCG.
Aaron Finch ruled Stanlake out of the final match with him injuring his ankle on the boundary line while having a catching practice as part of the warm-up for the Melbourne T20I, which was eventually washed out. The hosts are already having an unassailable 1-0 lead in the three-T20I series after they won the first match in Brisbane by four runs and the second was washed out.
Starc, who was earlier preparing for the Test series against India, will now be playing his first T20I for the country since September 2016. He last played a T20I for Australia against Sri Lanka and Colombo and at home, his last T20I was at the SCG in February 2014 against England.
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Talking about the replacement, Finch said, “[Starc has] got so much experience in the limited-overs games as well and we’ve seen how dominant he can be when he gets it right with the ball. We’ll have a look at the wicket this afternoon and discuss the side but coming straight off a Shield game with an eye on the first Test, his preparations will be really good.”
Even though Stanlake will miss the final T20I against India, he should return to the Big Bash League with the Adelaide Strikers. After his spell of 1/27 off three overs in Brisbane against India, Finch said he was beginning to find a good rhythm and would have featured in Melbourne if not for the injury.
The skipper only found out about Stanlake’s injury when he was “halfway out for the toss”. Initially, it was thought that the injury was not serious but scans on Saturday showed it was enough to rule him out of the third T20I.
The final T20I of the series will be played in Sydney on Sunday.
