FILE PHOTO: Cricket - Ashes - Fifth Test - England v Australia - The Oval, London, Britain - July 31, 2023 Australia's Pat Cummins walks after losing his wicket, caught by England's Ben Stokes off the bowling of Moeen Ali Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers/File Photo
MOHALI, India (Reuters) - Australia captain Pat Cummins is hopeful of playing in all three one-day internationals against India on his return from a wrist injury but confirmed fast bowler Mitchell Starc and all-rounder Glenn Maxwell will miss Friday's series opener in Mohali.
Starc has been recovering from a groin injury sustained during the Ashes series in England, while Maxwell will join the squad on Friday having recovered from an ankle injury.
"My wrist is all healed now ... hoping to play all three games," Cummins said on Thursday before the start of their final warm-up series before the World Cup in India starting on Oct. 5.
Batting mainstay Steve Smith is also set to return from a wrist injury but opener Travis Head has been ruled out with a fractured hand that makes him doubtful for the World Cup.
"We want to strike the balance between getting used to these conditions, hopefully winning some games, but we also don't want to get to that first (World Cup) game and already be cooked," Cummins said.
"No doubt we'll be trying a few different combinations, a few different players will get a chance but ideally we'd like to structure up pretty closely to how we'll play in the World Cup."
Marcus Stoinis shared the new ball on the recent tour of South Africa and Australia have two more pace-bowling all-rounder options in Cameron Green and Sean Abbott.
"You need five bowlers, so the more all-rounders you have you can really bolster your batting," Cummins said.
"It gives us flexibility to pick four genuine bowlers or maybe three bowlers and bat an all-rounder at No. 8. Hopefully Maxi (Maxwell) comes back later in the series, but the other three guys have been bowling fantastically."
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Ken Ferris)
