Molineux to lead, Babar demoted and Washington fitness– January 29 Cricket highlights

Sophie Molineux and Babar Azam [Source: @cricketcomau/x, AFP]

Alyssa Healy and Sophie Molineux will lead the Australian team in their multi-format home series against India. Babar Azam was demoted in the Pakistan batting order during the first T20I against Australia. In other news, Washington Sundar is scheduled to take part in a crucial fitness test before the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Capping an eventful day in the world of cricket, here we take a look at five of the biggest cricketing news that emerged out of Thursday, January 29.

Alyssa Healy, Molineux to lead as Australia name squad for India series

Cricket Australia has named Australia’s all-format squad for the upcoming home series against Team India. Outbound legend Alyssa Healy will continue to lead Australia in the ODI series and in the one-off Test in her farewell series. Her replacement Sophie Molineux will be taking over charge for the three-match T20I series between February 15 and February 21.

Nicola Carey is making her return to the Australian set-up as she is selected in the T20I and ODI squads. Young Lucy Hamilton could make her Test debut after getting picked in the 14-player group.

Sialkot Stallionz name Tim Paine as coach for PSL 2026

The Sialkot Stallionz franchise has appointed former Australia captain Tim Paine as their head coach for the upcoming PSL 2026 season. Paine has previously coached the Adelaide Strikers in BBL and the Australia Prime Minister’s XI team for a tour match against India.

Sialkot Stallionz is one of the two new franchises introduced to the league’s roaster ahead of PSL 2026, alongside Hyderabad. Earlier this week, the Hyderabad franchise also roped in a former Australian cricketer as its head coach in the form of Jason Gillespie.

Wankhede Stadium to host T20 World Cup 2026 opening ceremony

The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai will host the opening ceremony of the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The ceremony will be organised shortly before the India vs USA Group A match of the tournament at the venue on February 7, as reported by a TOI journalist.

The T20 World Cup 2026 will kick-off on the same day with a triple-header across three different venues spanning two countries. While the opening match of the competition will be played between Netherlands and Scotland in Colombo, the afternoon fixture will see West Indies taking on Scotland in Kolkata.

Washington Sundar’s T20 World Cup 2026 chances hang by a slim thread

Washington Sundar is on a road to recovery in a bid to make himself available for action before the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next month. The cricketer will reportedly take a crucial fitness test at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru on February 4, i.e., just three days before the launch of the showpiece event.

Washington Sundar has been out of action since India’s first ODI match against New Zealand earlier this month. The cricketer subsequently missed the remainder of the ODIs and the entire T20I series.

Babar Azam demoted in first T20I vs Australia

Babar Azam was demoted in the batting order by his captain Agha Salman during Pakistan’s first T20I of the three-match series against Australia in Lahore. Even though Pakistan lost star opener Sahibzada Farhan in the first ball of the match to Xavier Bartlett, the Pakistan team management decided not to send Babar at his usual number three spot.

In turn, captain Agha scored 39 off 27 balls at the position, while Babar Azam was relegated to number four where he scored a sluggish 24. Nonetheless, Pakistan still secured a 22-run win to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.