Hodge’s contentiously long absence from the national team - almost six years - is set to end on Friday, with the 39-year-old replacing South Africa-bound all-rounder Moises Henriques in Australia’s Twenty20 squad to face England at the MCG.
Despite the Victorian not being named in the initial squad, and Australia having a bulging list of top-order batting candidates, it is believed his chances of featuring in the tournament are good because selectors have been impressed by his ability to score heavily late in innings, which he demonstrated as part of the middle-order role he filled for Rajasthan in last year’s Indian Premier League. In his 21 IPL and Champions League matches last year, typically at number five or six, he finished unbeaten in more than half of his innings to average 55.86 at a strike-rate of 148.11.
Hodge has spent most of his limited-overs career in the top-order but said the shift was devised by his captain at the Royals, Indian great Rahul Dravid. Read more..
Source: Cricket News in Hindi
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