'You want to play to win': Andrew McDonald boosts injury-hit Australia's morale ahead of Champions Trophy

NEW DELHI: Australia's head coach Andrew McDonald has provided insights into the team's plans for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka and the upcoming major tournaments.
With the absence of key players like Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood due to injuries, and Marcus Stoinis's retirement from ODI cricket, the team will be exploring different options and combinations.
McDonald acknowledged that while winning is always the goal, the ODIs against Sri Lanka will serve as an opportunity to evaluate alternative strategies and personnel.
"You want to play to win, there's no doubt about that because winning form always helps the confidence of a group. But there will definitely be some options that we look at, how we go about it - what the structure of the top three (batting) looks like without Mitch Marsh there," said McDonald.
"And the bowling dynamic completely changes, it's almost a whole new attack so we have to work out how that functions as well. There will definitely be some things that we look at. The consideration is the conditions (in Colombo) are potentially somewhat different to what we get in Pakistan."
The top-order batting structure without Marsh's presence and the bowling attack without Cummins and Hazlewood will be areas of focus. The team will need to determine how the new-look bowling unit functions effectively.
Considering the Champions Trophy is less than ten days away, these ODIs will help Australia identify potential replacements for their squad. McDonald highlighted the importance of winning to boost confidence but emphasized the need to explore different approaches.
The coach also mentioned the potential differences in conditions between Colombo and Pakistan, where Australia recently played. During their previous visit to Sri Lanka in 2022, the pitches aided spin significantly in the ODI series.
"Last time we came here (in 2022) it spun square in the one-day series, so hopefully they’re flatter surfaces for us to prepare, but who knows," McDonald was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
Looking ahead to the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's and the subsequent West Indies tour, McDonald indicated that the squads for these two assignments are likely to differ.