The batting all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is set to miss Australia’s final T20I series before the Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 due to his injury.
Marcus Stoinis Ruled out of New Zealand tour
Marcus Stoinis has been ruled out of the New Zealand tour of Australia 2024 after experiencing a tweak in back on the recently completed West Indies tour of Australia 2024.
Aaron Hardie was called in as a replacement for the player. Australia’s vice-captain and wicketkeeper Matthew Wade is also set to miss the first T20I match played on Wednesday.
He is awaiting the birth of his third child and is expected to join the squad for the second and third T20I games on Friday and Sunday.
Stoinis had a back injury during the warm-up for the second T20I match against West Indies in Adelaide but was still able to play in the match.
He helped Glenn Maxwell’s feeding strike where he smashed 80 runs before bagging three wickets for 36 runs. He missed the third T20I match against West Indies and will be not playing in the T20I series in New Zealand. Stoinis is expected to be fit before the IPL 2024 season.
Meanwhile, Aaron Hardie is currently playing for Western Australia in a Sheffield Shield match and did not travel with the T20I squad on Saturday. He will be joining the side for the opening match.
Stoinis’s exclusion will be a setback for the Australian side. Despite being excluded from the squad for the ODI World Cup 2023, he was one of the key players for the side.
He was part of the squad which won the T20I World Cup in 2021. He had an impressive innings during the 2022 T20 World Cup match against Sri Lanka where he smashed a half-century.
But his injury remains a concern for his career as well as the national side. On the other hand, Steven Smith and Travis Head both return to the T20I side for the New Zealand tour after being rested for the West Indies series.
Australia and New Zealand will be playing their first T20I match on February 21 at Wellington Regional Stadium.
