Blow to AUS: All-rounder Marcus Stoinis doubtful for 5th ODI vs India

Australia are in a spot of bother as all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is doubtful for the 5th ODI against India as he has suffered a fracture to his thumb. The all-rounder already missed the fourth ODI and he may not feature in the series decider as well.

Stoinis suffers broken thumb, no confirmation yet on participation

The all-rounder has broken his thumb and failed to clear the fitness test ahead of the fourth ODI. Hence, Australia had to rope in Ashton Turner to replace him in the fourth ODI.

The fifth ODI will be played on March 13 at Delhi and so far there is no confirmation on Stoinis’ availability.

Peter Handscomb has stated that Stoinis will look to play at some stage but it’s just pain management with him. He noted that when it’s your bottom-hand thumb it makes it hard to hold the bat and they have just got to wait and see with him.

Seven 50+ scores for Marcus Stoinis in 26 ODIs, but none have resulted in a win for Australia https://t.co/TQZuB5Nh15 #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/T7fMpks774

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) March 6, 2019

Stoinis a key asset for Australia’s ODI unit

The all-rounder is a key asset for Australia in the ODI format as he is a reliable batsman in the middle order and bowls handy medium-pace as well.

He has performed well in this series so far and has scored 37, 52 and 31* in three innings so far. The Aussie cricketer has scored 927 runs in 27 ODI innings at an average of 44.14 and has picked 22 wickets as well.

Also read: Watch: Kohli’s euphoric reaction as Bumrah smothers six off last ball

In the fourth ODI, Australia had replaced Stoinis with Turner who ended up playing a match-winning knock for the visitors. Hence, Australia won’t have an issue to replace Stoinis’ batting prowess but his bowling skills will be a tough challenge to replace for Australia.

Australia’s squad for India series

Aaron Finch(c), Alex Carey, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa, Andrew Tye