SYDNEY, Oct 8: Steve Smith and David Warner completed their return from the wilderness on Tuesday when Australia recalled them to a 14-man Twenty20 squad to play Sri Lanka and Pakistan with a firm eye on next year�s World Cup.
The star batsmen were both banned for a year for their roles in a ball-tampering scandal but have returned to Australia�s Test, one-day and now Twenty20 sides.
�We are delighted to welcome Steve Smith and David Warner back into the T20 international fold,� chief selector Trevor Hohns said.
�Steve is a world-class batsman in all formats, while Warner is Australia�s highest ever T20I runs scorer. He was also the leading runs scorer at this year�s Indian Premier League with Sunrisers Hyderabad.�
The Twenty20 squad named on Tuesday will face Sri Lanka and Pakistan in coming weeks but Hohns said the focus was firmly on next year�s World Cup, which will be held in Australia.
Australia SQUAD
Aaron Finch (capt), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, David Warner, Adam Zampa. � AFP
