Green to make international debut in third ODI

The player dubbed the best batting talent since Ricky Ponting will make his international debut today, with Cameron Green to play in the third Dettol ODI Series clash against India in Canberra.

Green replaces injured opener David Warner in Australia's XI, which will be full confirmed at the toss, and was presented men's ODI cap No.230 by new teammate Steve Smith. He will wear No.42 on his back.

Green, touted by former Australia captain Greg Chappell as the best young batter he's seen since Ponting, is expected to bat in the middle order and bowl a handful of overs as the hosts look to achieve a 3-0 clean sweep of India.'

Image Id: C3C17ED9E2574EF78F2B2F4C193AAF46 Image Caption: Smith presents Green with men's ODI cap No.230 // Getty

Smith told Green to remember he was now a role model to young kids, just as the players they had watched growing up had been for them.

Asked what he had said to Green, Smith told Fox Cricket: "I took it back to when I was a kid and was inspired by guys like Gilly (Adam Gilchrist), Junior (Mark Waugh), Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, and that he's now playing for Australia and inspiring young kids watching at home or at the ground here today.

"He's deserved an opportunity, he's dominated the level below, he's progressed his way up and now the hard work of playing his country starts now."

Coach Justin Langer has made it clear Green had to be able to bowl if he was to be considered for selection, but given Australia has at least six bowling options already, he may be required to bowl only a few overs on what has typically been a batting-friendly Manuka Oval pitch.

Skipper Aaron Finch broke the news to the squad Green would be making his debut yesterday afternoon at training. The allrounder, who stands almost 200cm tall, was congratulated by his teammates before hitting the nets for one last bat before his maiden match for his country.

He made his first-class debut for Western Australia as a 17-year-old in February 2017, taking 5-24 in his maiden innings against Tasmania to help bowl his side to a nine-wicket win.

While his rapid right-arm fast bowling earned him initial selection it's been his batting that has propelled him onto the selectors' radar.

Like many young quicks, Green has suffered repeated stress fractures in his back, but that time away from bowling has let him focus on his batting which has gone to a new level each season.

In 19 first-class games the right-hander averages 49.83 with four centuries, and this season alone he is averaging 72.6 for WA.

That's not to forget his excellent overall first-class bowing figures of 30 wickets at a strike rate of 43.4.

While his limited-overs numbers don't stack up quite as well as his Marsh Sheffield Shield record, his prodigious talent is difficult to ignore.

It is understood the 21-year-old was close to debuting in the second ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday but the selectors decided to go with veteran allrounder Moises Henriques, who vindicated his selection with a frugal bowling effort and an athletic catch to dismiss India captain Virat Kohli.

Henriques has seen Green up close both as friend and foe having been in the field as the youngster compiled a dominant 197 against NSW in the Marsh Sheffield Shield earlier this summer.

Henriques also shared a net with Green in the lead up to the first match at the SCG and was left stunned by the effortless speed and skill of the towering quick in the warm-ups.

"I'm like 'Greeny, you're showing off now. You're bowling faster than I am off four steps. Like c'mon, give us a break,'" Henriques said on The Unplayable Podcast.

"He's got the gift. He sends them down quickly and he's still a very young man.

"I do think his time will come, that's for sure.

"He's a superb player. He was really impressive against us, I know it was a Shield game, but … for his age he's very cricket smart."

Green's WA and Perth Scorchers coach Adam Voges played a key role in Green making his Shield debut having been blown away by his abilities in the nets before the match, demanding he play to then coach Langer.

Now Voges is at the helm and says the youngster is reserved off the field but is slowly getting his voice.

"He's pretty quiet," Voges told cricket.com.au last month.

"He's just one these blokes who seems to be good at everything he does.

"We had a table tennis table in the (Shield) hub in Adelaide and he was one of the better players at that, no doubt.

"He's got a good head on his shoulders. Punctuality is probably not his strong suit – we continue to work with him on that.

"Outside of that he's a good a kid and obviously a very good cricketer as well."

Dettol ODI Series v India 2020

Australia ODI squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey , Pat Cummins (vc), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Sams, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India ODI squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.

First ODI: Australia won by 66 runs

Second ODI: Australia won by 51 runs

Third ODI: December 2, Manuka Oval, 2.40pm AEDT

*The matches and travel remain subject to any relevant government restrictions or requirements