Australia head coach Andre McDonald has said that Steve Smith is definitely in his thoughts for the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup, set to be played in West Indies and the USA in June.
Australia is all set to take on New Zealand in the second T20I of their three-match series. Smith, who missed the first match of the series, could return to the starting XI for the second T20I at Eden Park in Auckland.
Speaking ahead of their second T20I against New Zealand, McDonald said Smith is definitely in their plans for the 2024 T20 World Cup, insisting that he wouldn’t be part of the T20I side if he wasn’t. Smith has scored 1,079 runs in 65 T20I matches at an average of 25.69 while striking at 125.17.
“If he wasn’t in our thinking then he wouldn’t be on the plane over here. We’re playing him for a reason. He’ll get some opportunity here, he had some opportunities in India at the back end of a World Cup and we were planning for him to play in South Africa as well going as far back as August-September,” said McDonald.
“But he unfortunately had a wrist injury at the time, so he missed those three one-dayers. But he’s definitely in the thoughts,” McDonald added.
Smith last played a T20I for Australia in December 2023 in their second match of their series against India, where he scored 19 runs off 16 balls while opening the batting.
SMITH LIKELY TO PLAY 2ND T20I: MARSH
Meanwhile, Australia captain Mitchell Marsh said Smith is likely to play a part in the second T20I against New Zealand, insisting that they were looking to give opportunities to other players in the first T20I. Australia beat New Zealand by six wickets in a last-ball thriller in Wellington.
“I’d say he’s likely to come in. Heady (Travis Head) and Davey (Warner, his opening partner) were our first choice for this match, but there’s no doubt Steve will come into calculations for the next game. I understand that it always raises eyebrows when Steve Smith gets left out of a team but we’re certainly building towards the World Cup and we’ll give lots of guys different opportunities over the next few games,” Marsh said.
Australia will be looking to seal the three-match T20I series against New Zealand when they clash at Eden Park in Auckland on February 23, before facing each other in the third T20I at the same venue on February 25.
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