Sri Lanka have won the toss in the first white ball clash of the home summer, as Josh Inglis will make his debut for Australia
Aussies bat first against Sri Lanka, Inglis debuts
Australian players will get their final shot at impressing before this weekend's Indian Premier League mega-auction with seven of those selected to face Sri Lanka hoping to improve their stock.
Skipper Aaron Finch lost the toss to counterpart Dasun Shanaka, who elected to bowl first in the Dettol T20I series opener at the SCG where showers are forecast on a blustery evening.
Josh Inglis was presented with men’s T20I cap No.99 by fellow Western Australian Marcus Stoinis, with the highly rated gloveman to play as a specialist batter at No.3 in place of the rested Mitch Marsh.
Ben McDermott is the only other change from the XI that lifted the T20 World Cup trophy in November with David Warner also missing the five-game series ahead of the all-format tour of Pakistan later this month.
Wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal has returned to Sri Lanka's T20 team off the back of a strong domestic T20 campaign with the visitors picking two spinners in Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana.
Australia XI: Aaron Finch (c), Ben McDermott, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Sri Lanka XI: Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Dasun Shanaka (c), Chamika Karunaratne, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Binura Fernando
Kusal Mendis is out with COVID-19.
Josh Hazlewood will play his first match since December after recovering from the side injury he suffered during the Ashes opener against England at the Gabba, filling out a formidable bowling attack alongside Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa.
Of the Aussie players picked for this match, only Inglis and Mitchell Starc have not put in for cricket's biggest payday.
Allrounders Glenn Maxwell (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Marcus Stoinis (Lucknow Super Giants) have been retained on multi-million dollar deals and several Aussies, including some who are not playing tonight like Marsh, Warner, Jhye Richardson and Moises Henriques, are expected to fetch big bucks at the auction being held in India on Saturday and Sunday.
Winless in their last four T20Is against Australia, Sri Lanka face a tough challenge against the reigning champions in the shortest format.
Shanaka's men pushed the Aussies at the recent World Cup before ultimately losing by seven wickets with three overs to spare but will be heartened that the mastermind of that run chase, Warner, is absent.
Their trump card will be Hasaranga, the world's No.1 ranked T20I bowler.
"No doubt he's one of the stars of their team," Kane Richardson told the Unplayable Podcast this week. "He's taken the world game by storm in the last the past 12 months."
Only Hasaranga, who is also a handy lower-order batter and said last year that Steve Smith was his cricket idol, took more wickets than Zampa at last year's World Cup, snaring 16 victims and only going at 5.20 per over.
"He's the guy we've been relying on as Sri Lankans," former Sri Lanka batter Russel Arnold told cricket.com.au. "Quietly, he's been making it. He's keeping up to the expectations, or the belief that he's created about himself.
"He's got a good attitude and, unlike most Sri Lankans, he's not timid.
"He's kind of a street fighter, always looking to make things happen and he'll look to compete. That's the kind of quality that's pushing him on and on."
Dettol T20 Series v Sri Lanka 2022
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head*, Moises Henriques, Josh Inglis, Ben McDermott, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa * unavailable for first three matches
Sri Lanka squad: Dasun Shanaka (c), Charith Asalanka, Avishka Fernando, Pathum Nissanka, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Dinesh Chandimal, Chamika Karunaratne, Janith Liyanage, Kamil Mishara, Ramesh Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lahiru Kumara, Nuwan Thushara, Dushmantha Chameera, Binura Fernando, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Shiran Fernando
February 11: First T20, SCG, 7.10pm AEDT
February 13: Second T20, SCG, 7.10pm AEDT
February 15: Third T20, Manuka Oval, 7.10pm AEDT
February 18: Fourth T20, MCG, 5.10pm AEDT
February 20: Fifth T20, MCG, 7.10pm AEDT
All matches broadcast exclusively on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports. Radio coverage by ABC Grandstand