Australia's final team announced for Champions Trophy 2025, 5 big changes compared to before along with captain

The Australian cricket team's troubles are escalating ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The Kangaroo camp, which is reeling from the loss of the first four players from the tournament, has been dealt another huge blow. Mitchell Starc is also ruled out of the upcoming Champions Trophy. The ODI World Cup 2023-winning team will now participate in this mega event without Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Stoinis, and Mitchell Starc. Steve Smith has been made the captain of the Australian side in the event.

According to Cricket Australia, Mitchell Starc withdrew from the tournament for personal reasons. Australia's fast bowling attack will now include inexperienced Spencer Johnson, Nathan Ellis, Sean Abbott and Ben Dwarshis. Earlier, Cummins, Hazelwood, and Mitchell Marsh were ruled out of the Champions Trophy due to injury. At the same time, Marcus Stoinis suddenly announced his retirement from ODIs, which has further increased Australia's troubles before the Champions Trophy.

Chief selector George Bailey said that we understand and respect Mitchell Starc's decision. Mitchell is highly respected for his commitment to international cricket and prioritizing performance for Australia. Bailey admitted that due to Stoinis' retirement and injuries, Australia had to make many last-minute changes in their team.

Bailey hopes that the team will perform well in the Champions Trophy. Bailey said that there have been a lot of changes in the team due to some untimely injuries and the retirement of Marcus Stoinis last month. The positive side of this is that we have been able to include those players in the team who have performed and achieved success at the international level in the last 12 months.

Australia's team for the Champions Trophy: Steve Smith (captain), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshis, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Aaron Hardy, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa. Traveling Reserve: Cooper Connolly.