Johnson returns home

Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson will be joining young teammates Phil Jaques and Mark Cosgrove on the plane home, despite last night’s heroics against India. Johnson marked himself as a player to watch on the international scene with a stunning burst of a 4 wickets in 8 balls in Australia’s second game in the DLF Cup, and if it wasn’t for the rain may have won Australia the match as well.

Johnson was spoken of highly before the tour began, and six wickets in two games has only increased his reputation, including the scalps of Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. Jaques and Cosgrove by comparison had a relatively quite time of it in their two matches, and all three will return to Australia as part of a pre-arranged squad rotation scheme. Australia selected a large squad of 18 for a maximum of five matches in the series, and the young trio will return home to give players like Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds and Michael Hussey a run in the side ahead of next month’s Champions Trophy.