Australia faces a big blow ahead of the World Cup as their in-form pacer Tayla Vlaeminck is ruled of the tournament with stress fractures in her foot. Off-spinner Molly Strano replaces Vlaeminck in the squad, just a day before the first match of the World Cup.
On 19th February, Vlaeminck was seen wearing a moon boot and missed out the final warmup match.
“Tayla has been in brilliant form of late and established herself as one of the premier fast bowlers in international cricket,” head coach Matthew Mott said.
“No one ever wants to see a player miss a major tournament in these kinds of circumstances, but I have no doubt she will bounce back from this setback and play a leading role in Australian squads for many years to come.”
“We are fortunate to have great depth across Australian cricket and Molly enters the squad in great form having recently been named the domestic player of the year,” added Mott.
Strano was one of the top performers last year and was awarded the domestic player of the year as well. Strano has been a lethal weapon against Shafali Verma after dismissing her almost in every single match they both competed. It will be interesting to see how Shafali would go against the spinner.
India will take on Australia on February 21st.
Sanjay Manjrekar axed from commentary panel: Reports