India vs Australia T20I: David Warner to miss series, Aaron Hardie comes in

David Warner has withdrawn from the upcoming T20I series between India and Australia that gets underway on 23 November in Vizag. The left-handed opener will return home after a successful ODI World Cup campaign in India.

Warner, who was Australia’s leading run-scorer in the World Cup with 535 runs, has pulled out from the 15-player squad. Taking his place in the squad is all-rounder Aaron Hardie.

The veteran opener will return home ahead of his final Test summer having previously stated his plans to retire from the longest format following the New Year’s match against Pakistan.

With Warner unavailable for the T20 series, just seven of Australia’s World Cup-winning ODI squad members will stay in India – Sean Abbott, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis and Adam Zampa – as well as reserve spinner Tanveer Sangha.

Hardie had joined the Australian camp over the weekend as they prepared for the ODI World Cup final against India in Ahmedabad. He had made his ODI and T20I debuts during the white-ball tour of South Africa in September.

“Selectors decided Warner would return home on the back of a successful yet demanding World Cup campaign,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.

Despite making it clear that his time with the red ball is over, Warner is determined to keep going in the shorter formats. He said on social media, “Who said I’m finished??”

Warner had clarified last week that he wouldn’t take the Cricket Australia contract in 2024-25 but will remain available for selection for the T20 World Cup in United States and the Caribbean, followed by the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in 2025.

Australia T20 squad: Matthew Wade (c), Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa

India T20 squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer (last two matches only)