T20 veteran and fast bowler Kane Richardson has been ruled out of the Pakistan white-ball series after suffering a hamstring injury. The Aussies are scheduled to play three ODIs and a single T20 in Pakistan after the completion of the three-match Test series, which is currently in progress.
Australia’s tour of Pakistan has the historic significance, this being the first time in more than two decades that the Men from Down Under have visited Pakistan. Richardson will now be replaced by New South Wales pacer Ben Dwarshius.
Richardson was set to lead the Australian pace attack in a depleted pace bowling battery but will not be able to take part in the Pakistan series after aggravating a minor hamstring issue in training at Melbourne ahead of the white-ball squad’s departure to Lahore.
Richardson was part of a relatively inexperienced bowling attack that also features Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Ellis, and Sean Abbott. The squad also includes the likes of Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis, and Mitchell Marsh, who can all roll their arm over, but it is highly doubtful that the latter would bowl, given his track record with injuries. However, with Richardson unavailable, Dwarshius is set to replace him in the fast bowling unit.
“Although the injury is considered minor it was decided the long trip to Pakistan along with four games in eight days and short turnarounds it was in Richardson’s best interests to remain home,”
Cricket Australia said via an official statement.
The experienced pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will all miss the white-ball portion of the tour as they have been rested. Cummins and Hazlewood will be a part of the Indian Premier League, which is set to kick off on Saturday, as defending champions Chennai Super Kings take on runners-up Kolkata Knight Riders.
Despite a deficient squad, skipper Aaron Finch had no doubts as to Australia’s chances in the limited-overs series, as he trusted the depth in the squad to get them past Pakistan.
“One thing that will help is the guys have played a lot of T20 cricket. They’re quite inexperienced for Australia but I think playing T20 cricket will help them in that regard. There’s a lot of skill in the group and guys that have been around one-day cricket for a long time domestically as well”
Finch said.
