Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has been ruled out of the three-match T20I series against New Zealand commencing on February 21, Wednesday. He will miss the tour because of an injury and will be replaced by Aaron Hardie, as per CodeSports. Aaron Hardie has played four ODIs and seven T20Is for Australia and has not been the best performer but his BBL stats are something that has earned him a spot in the Australian squad for the shortest format.
Australia will tour their trans-Tasmanian rivals New Zealand later this month for three T20Is and two Test matches. They recently defeated West Indies in a three-match T20I series by 2-1 and whitewashed them in the ODI series by 3-0. However, the Test series was leveled 1-1 as West Indies scripted history in the Gabba. New Zealand on the other hand defeated South Africa 2-0 in the recently concluded Test series and now will host Australia for a multi-format tour.
Marcus Stoinis has a terrific record for Australia in the T20Is with both the bat and the ball. He has scored 940 runs in 49 innings across 59 matches at an average of 29.38 which includes two half-centuries. Marcus Stoinis has also taken 29 wickets at an average of 27.24 in T20Is for Australia. Aaron Hardie has an opportunity to showcase his worth and get in contention for the Australian squad that will participate in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup which is scheduled in June.
Marcus Stoinis will miss important game time for Australia before the T20 World Cup. However, he will get enough game time in T20s as he will be featuring in the IPL 2024 which is expected to commence in the third week of March. He was a part of the 2023 World Cup-winning squad of Australia. Mitchell Marsh, another pace-bowling all-rounder has been given the role to lead the Australian side in T20Is.
Marcus Stoinis has been replaced by Aaron Hardie in the squad
Marcus Stoinis has been ruled out of Australia's tour of New Zealand, replaced by Aaron Hardie.https://t.co/9N9hHRzXeh
— Daniel Cherny (@DanielCherny) February 16, 2024
Marcus Stoinis represents Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL and he is expected to return from his injury making a comeback in the IPL 2024. He will have to be at his best if he wants a slot in the T20 World Cup squad of Australia. He has not been in his best form in recent times and if Aaron Hardie makes an impact by performing well against New Zealand then it is possible that he will replace Marcus Stoinis in the Australian squad.
The T20I series will commence on February 21, Wednesday at the Sky Stadium in Wellington. Kane Williamson is likely to lead the BlackCaps whereas Mitchell Marsh will be leading the Australian side. David Warner has been in terrific form in T20Is as he smashed two half-centuries in the recently concluded T20I series against West Indies.
New Zealand has also recently defeated Pakistan 4-1 in a five-match T20I series where Finn Allen was on fire as he ended up as the highest run-scorer in the series scoring 275 in five innings. It will be an interesting competition between the two trans-Tasmanian rivals as they will face each other in the shortest and the longest format of the game respectively.
