ICC WORLD CUP | Stoinis fit again and available for selection: Australian skipper Cummins

Australian Marcus Stoinis bats during a training session at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup India 2023 on October 11, 2023 in Lucknow, India.
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Australia skipper Pat Cummins revealed that a fit-again Marcus Stoinis was available for selection and that the team was looking at him ‘pretty closely’ ahead of its World Cup match against South Africa at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Thursday.

“He’s fit. We’ll announce a team tomorrow but it’s a ground he knows pretty well. I think chatting to him and a couple of other guys, it’s probably in a bit of a different condition to what it is for IPL. The wicket looks really good, so yeah, he’s someone we’ll look at pretty closely,” Cummins said.

Stoinis plays for IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants and could have a feel for the conditions at the venue, which have been challenging for batters but could change after the pitch underwent renovation.

Australia is coming off a six-wicket defeat against India in Chennai in its campaign opener and Cummins said both the batting and bowling units will need to step up in the middle-overs.

While the Aussies lost six wickets for 113 runs between overs 11 and 40, the spinners were ineffective and allowed Virat Kohli and K.L. Rahul to take the game away.

Cummins termed the rivalry against South Africa as “a clash of two very similar teams” because of the quality of pacers and batters who “take the game on”.

Australia is carrying opener Travis Head, who fractured his hand ahead of the tournament, and Cummins said that the left-hander was set to undergo scans on Thursday and that an update on his availability could be expected in a couple of days.