Australia T20I squad against New Zealand 2021

Australia T20I squad for the February-March International series against New Zealand has been announced.

Australia T20I squad (18-man) will be captained by Aaron Finch, with Andrew McDonald stepping up as team coach in the absence of Justin Langer, who will be in South Africa for a three-Test series pencilled in for the same time.

Finch will be deputised by Matthew Wade, who has been left out of the 19-man Test squad to play South Africa.

Despite the absence of cross format stars Steve Smith and David Warner, the batting order will not be short of fire power, with Finch, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis all included.

 “In a World Cup year, it’s exciting to select a squad that combines some of the biggest names in international T20 cricket with the best emerging players in the country,” Cricket Australia chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said. “We like the balance of this squad for what should be a thrilling series against the Black Caps.

The Australian selectors have been closely monitoring the Big Bash League and they have rewarded caps to Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith and Tanveer Sangha.

Fast bowler Jhye Richardson will be hoping to play his first match for Australia in any format since March last year, and Jason Behrendorff his first since the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019.

The selectors have also included 19-year-old Tanveer Sangha after his impressive performance with Sydney Thunder, where he has 21 wickets from 14 games. Sydney Thunder has qualified for the playoffs of the Big Bash League.

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AUSTRALIA T20I SQUAD:

Aaron Finch (c), Matthew Wade (vc), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa