Allrounder back less than a week after finger operation as top-ranked T20I teams face off at MCG
Matt Short has made a remarkable recovery from finger surgery with the allrounder picked to face India at a packed MCG just five days after going under the knife.
Australia captain Mitch Marsh won the toss and elected to bowl first on an overcast evening where public tickets have been sold out for weeks amid the clamour to see India’s world champion T20 team at Australia’s largest sporting venue.
Australia XI: Mitch Marsh (c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Matt Short, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matt Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood
India XI: Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
There will however be a sombre note to Friday’s match with the two teams to pay tribute to Ben Austin, the 17-year-old junior cricketer who died after being struck while batting in the nets in Ferntree Gully, an outer-eastern suburb of Melbourne.
Short hurt his finger during last week’s ODI series and underwent a ‘cleanout’ operation on Sunday. He sat out the washed-out BKT Tyres series opener in Canberra but now returns to the Aussie middle-order in place of Josh Philippe.
The right-hander will be forced to adjust a new middle-order role having been listed to bat at seven. His most recent games in both white-ball sides have come either opening or at three.
Short was bowling in the middle before play, suggesting he will also be right to send down his off-spin if required.
But he might have just one game to push his case to remain in the side. Glenn Maxwell, who hit balls in the MCG nets before play on Friday, is back in the squad for Sunday’s third T20I in Hobart as he returns from a broken wrist.
The hosts are otherwise unchanged from the XI they picked for the game at Manuka Oval on Wednesday. India have picked the same team.
Australia selectors will be eager to see how their white-ball newcomers like Short, Matthew Kuhnemann and Xavier Bartlett handle the extra intensity of a close-to-full MCG against the reigning T20 World Cup champions.
“It’s an experience for the guys who haven’t been there and done it,” said Nathan Ellis, now a T20 mainstay who is playing his first international at the MCG. “A few of us have had that one in the calendar for a little bit.”
Ellis said he was expecting a high-scoring contest.
“My experiences on the MCG in the last few years have been great,” he told reporters this week. “I feel like every Big Bash game has been 180-plus (totals). You had good value for runs, whilst being a little bit in it for the bowlers.”
Australia v India T20Is 2025
October 29: No result
October 31: Second T20I v India, MCG, Melbourne, 7:15pm AEDT
November 2: Third T20I v India, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 7:15pm AEDT
November 6: Fourth T20I v India, Gold Coast Stadium, Gold Coast, 7:15pm AEDT
November 8: Fifth T20I v India, The Gabba, Brisbane, 7:15pm AEDT
Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott (games 1-3), Xavier Bartlett, Mahli Beardman (games 3-5), Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis (games 4-5), Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood (games 1-2), Ben McDermott (standby player) Glenn Maxwell (games 3-5), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Owen, Josh Philippe (wk), Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Tanveer Sangha
India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar
