Australia announce strong squad for T20Is versus New Zealand, Mitchell Marsh named skipper

Australia have named a strong 15-man squad for their upcoming three-match T20I series against New Zealand later this month. The first T20I takes place in Wellington on Wednesday, February 21 before the action shifts to Auckland for the next couple of games.

Interestingly, Pat Cummins is a part of the squad but Mitchell Marsh has been named as the captain. This could mean that Cummins' tenure as Australia's skipper across all formats could be over. However, there could also be a possibility of the legendary all-rounder not playing all three games to manage his workload and that is why Marsh could have been given the honour of spearheading the side.

The experienced Australian cricketers have been picked in the team, as the Men in Yellow will look to get some preparation ahead of the T20 World Cup, which is slated to be held in June. Australia won the T20 World Cup for the first time in 2021 but arch-rivals England emerged victorious in the 2022 edition of the tournament. After winning the World Test Championship (WTC) final for the first time and the ODI World Cup for a record-extending sixth time last year, the Aussies would want to go the distance in the T20 World Cup and take top honours in all three formats of the game.

Australia are in red-hot form in ongoing ODI series against West Indies

Australia are currently playing a three-match ODI series against the West Indies. They have already bagged the series after winning the first two games. After the third and final ODI, which takes place on Tuesday, February 6, the two teams will battle it out in a three-match T20I series.

Australia's squad for New Zealand T20Is: Mitchell Marsh (C), Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa