Morris and Sundaresan's Aussie XI for T20 World Cup opener

How will Australia line up in their first T20 World Cup clash?

Australia’s opening game comes against Ireland next Wednesday in Colombo, and with Josh Hazlewood still building loads as he returns from a hamstring injury, the Aussies have 14 of their 15-man squad to pick from.

With that in mind, SEN The New Ball duo Bharat Sundaresan and Tom Morris had a go at picking their XIs for the clash.

Both landed on the same team to face Ireland as they went with a balance of power hitting, all-rounders and spinners.

Sundaresan: “I'm going to start by saying that Josh Hazlewood is not available, because it looks unlikely that he'll be available for that first game.

“So, let's say that they have 14 to pick from, in that case, right?

“My team will have Marsh and Head open, with Maxwell, David and Stoinis in the middle.

“Josh Inglis at seven, Cooper Connolly at eight for me with Bartlett, Ellis and Zampa.

“The only reason I say that is Australia need more bowling options and especially at the Premadasa Stadium, unless there’s rain.

“I think with that team, you have so much flexibility with the batting, but you also have a lot of spin options, and you have Marcus Stoinis and Cam Green with bat and ball.”

Morris: “I've picked the same XI.

“I considered Renshaw ahead of Maxwell on form, but I think Glenn Maxwell, given his overall legacy and record in global tournaments, deserves first crack.

“I’m assuming Tim David's fit as well.”

Sundaresan: “The only other change I could make to that team is because you have batting to seven, Matt Kuhnemann could be ahead of Cooper Connolly as a specialist bowler.

“He bowls really well in Sri Lanka across formats.

“Both Bartlett and Ellis are handy with the bat, so there’s enough firepower that Australia have with their batting.

“But I would start with Cooper Connolly because I think he'll have a big role to play in that World Cup.”

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