Marnus Labuschagne says it’s “astonishing” that AUS plays IND in a T20 match just four days after ODI World Cup final. He and 7others arrived on Wednesday, ready to rest before prepping for the Test. Less rest awaits for the remaining seven members. AUS faces India in a T20 match on Thursday night after celebrating the ODI win. Images of Travis Head’s celebrations have gone viral. Jokes aside, the situation highlights issues with cricket’s crowded calendar.
“We celebrated for two days, which was nice. Just to soak it up,” Labuschagne.
“However, it is astonishing that there’s another game tomorrow. That’s hard to fathom. It’s hard how those guys will be playing in a day,” he said. “It’s the nature of cricket at the moment. We’ve got three weeks until the first Test so guys will be freshening up, getting themselves ready for the next challenge.
Up to seven of AUS’s players from the squad will play in the match, and at an absolute minimum one of the men who played on Sunday will play on Thursday.
India have named only one player from their team from the World Cup final in their 15-man squad, with Suryakumar Yadav to captain the side.
The series is reminiscent of Australia’s three ODIs against newly-crowned T20 champions England post last year’s short-format World Cup. The matches attracted crowds as low as 10,406, prompting concerns over a lack of public interest. But at least in that instance, Australia had a point to prove off the back of some rest, after being bundled out in the group stage of the T20 tournament.