‘World Cup bhi mat khelo’ – Fans react as Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc get ruled out of Australia’s squad ahead of South Africa tour

Australian Cricket team are set to tour South Africa for a 5-match ODI and 3-match T20I series which is set to start with the T20I series on August 30. The Kangaroos are on a winning run as they recently won the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final and also retained the Ashes 2023 series.

However, now the action will move towards white-ball cricket. After the South Africa tour, Australia will then come to India for a 3-match ODI series before the much-awaited ODI World Cup which will be hosted by India. Meanwhile, the Kangaroos have suffered a major setback as their two veteran cricketers Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc are ruled out of the squad ahead of the South Africa tour. 

Marnus Labuschagne replaced Steve Smith in Australia’s ODI squad

Both Smith and Starc are suffering from injuries and will be missing both ODI and T20I series. There are less than 2 months remaining for the ODI World Cup and Smith and Starc’s absence from the squad. Many fans have also reacted to the news and said that they want to rest before the World Cup that’s why they are ruled out of the squad.

Smith’s exclusion from the series will give a great chance to Marnus Labuschagne who wasn’t a part of the squad of earlier. But as now he is included in the squad, it will be a golden chance for him to perform well in the series and cement a place in the squad before the ODI World Cup 2023.

Australia T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Jason Behrendorff, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short.

Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne.

Here’s how fans reacted:

https://twitter.com/ROHITKU67268135/status/1692442832488059367?s=20

https://twitter.com/jrohit_tweets/status/1692445386798227893?s=20