Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc not included in T20I squad to face India and South Africa

It’s been an eventful year for the Australian cricket team as they continue to go through a period of transition and attempt to recover from the whole ‘Sandpapergate’ incident. The Aussies will prepare to host the Proteas in a one-off T20I game before they enter a full-fledged home series against Virat Kohli & Co.

“We know coming off the back of the tour to the UAE, a huge summer at home, and the World Cup and Ashes just around the corner that we have to get the balance right between playing our best T20 team and preparing for the upcoming Test series.

Aaron Finch-led Australia have been lacking positive results off late. The Aussies tasted defeat in 17 of their 19 one-dayers and were humbled by a margin of 3-0 by Pakistan in a T20 series in the United Arab Emirates last month. Langer backed the pair of Marcus and Jason to shine if given an opportunity in the upcoming matches.

“Marcus is such a versatile player, he’s a powerful middle-order batsman and he provides us with another solid bowling option. Jason Behrendorff has also earned a spot in the squad after returning to full fitness. Tactically we believe it’s important to have a good left-arm swing bowler at our disposal for the four matches,” Langer added.