Nikhil Chaudhary and Joel Davies will make their international debuts in Australia’s T20 series opener against Bangladesh, with captain Mitch Marsh also making his return to the national side.
Marsh lost the toss and Bangladesh opted to bat first in Chattogram on Wednesday, the first of three T20 matches in the southeastern port city, with the tourists seeking to rebound from their 1-2 ODI series loss to Bangladesh last week.
Bangladesh XI: Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Saif Hassan, Parvez Hossain Emon (wk), Tawhid Hridoy (c), Shamim Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abdul Gaffar Saqlain, Shoriful Islam
Australia XI: Mitch Marsh (c), Josh Inglis (wk), Cooper Connolly, Matt Renshaw, Tim David, Nikhil Chaudhary, Joel Davies, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson
Australia’s men’s T20 captain returns from an ankle injury suffered at the back end of the Indian Premier League season last month, confirming he will open the batting with Josh Inglis, who stood in as skipper during consecutive ODI series losses, with the 50-over side also going down 1-2 to Pakistan earlier this month.
While they have never opened together in T20 internationals, Marsh and Inglis reunite at the top of the order following a successful union for Lucknow Super Giants in this year’s IPL, which saw them average 87.5 in four innings as a first wicket pairing.
The red-hot Cooper Connolly, fresh off his maiden international century in last Sunday’s third ODI, will come in behind them at No.3, the position where he enjoyed a breakout 491-run IPL campaign averaging 44.63 for Punjab Kings.
Australia’s T20 side are looking to the future with four new faces in the XI from their last T20 international when they crashed out of the men’s T20 World Cup at the group stage for the first time in 17 years.
Alongside the two debutants, Connolly has earned a recall from the previous match against Oman, while left-arm speedster Spencer Johnson plays his first international match in 16 months after overcoming a stress fracture in his back.
Cameron Green (managed) and Travis Head (personal leave) are missing for this series as they begin their preparations for August’s Test series against Bangladesh, while veterans Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis were overlooked.
Chaudhary meanwhile becomes the first Indian-born man to play for Australia in more than 60 years. While several players of Indian-origin players have donned the green and gold, including Gurinder Sandhu and Tanveer Sangha, not since the 1960s (when Rex Sellars, a Gujarat-born leg-spinner who featured in the 1964 Calcutta Test) has an Indian-born man played for the national side.
Lisa Sthalekar, born in Pune and adopted by Australian parents, was a star of Australia’s women’s side through the 2000s.
Chaudhary, a leg-spinner allrounder who moved to Queensland during the Covid pandemic, has emerged as a key cog in Hobart Hurricanes over the past three BBL seasons.
Davies too, presented Australian men’s T20I cap No.118, has earnt his international opportunity through impressive Big Bash performances for Sydney Sixers, with the left-arm finger-spinning allrounder the most economical bowler (minimum 20 overs) last season while also taking the second-most wickets (14) by a spinner behind Connolly (15) in BBL|15.
Chaudhary (cap No.117), a powerful ball-striker, has been listed at No.6 behind Hurricanes teammate Tim David, while Davies is at seven.
Like the ODI series against Bangladesh, the visitors have picked three specialist quicks with Xavier Bartlett and Nathan Ellis joining Johnson, with star leg-spinner Adam Zampa rounding out the attack.
Qantas Tour of Bangladesh 2026
Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Adam Zampa
June 9: First ODI: Bangladesh won by 86 runs (DLS Method)
June 11: Second ODI: Bangladesh won by five wickets (DLS Method)
June 14: Third ODI: Australia won by one wicket
Australia T20I squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Nikhil Chaudhary, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Adam Zampa
June 17: First T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
June 19: Second T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
June 21: Third T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
All matches exclusive on Kayo Sports and Fox Cricket
