Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis and Spencer Johnson have been named to return for Australia’s T20I series against Pakistan, with all the Test players rested ahead of facing India, but a new captain has yet to be confirmed.
Australia’s most recent T20I captains in Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head are unavailable, as is the ODI and Test captain Pat Cummins. Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa, Matthew Short and Aaron Hardie have all captained in the BBL while Josh Inglis is also a strong candidate given his leadership and tactical nous is highly regarded having been Perth Scorchers vice-captain.
Bartlett, Ellis and Johnson all return from injury following the torrid tour of UK where they were ruled out with various issues. Johnson returned to domestic cricket last Friday when he played in the One-Day Cup match for South Australia against Queensland.
Bartlett (side strain) and Ellis (hamstring) have been slower to recover but are expected to be fit for the three-match series that begins on November 14 and finishes on November 18.
Australia’s T20I squad vs Pakistan: Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa