McDonald also said the selectors would consider a Test recall for Mitch Marsh, even if Australia's white-ball captain said last week he would be watching the Ashes series beer in hand.
With the Ashes urn in their hands, Australia decided to rule Cummins out of the two remaining Tests.
New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell on Tuesday said it would be "silly to underestimate" Indian batting superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and backed the stalwarts to play next year's ODI World Cup.
The Asia Cup champions will not have it easy against the Mitch Marsh-led Aussies at home as the Indians were seen going hard in the nets on Monday.
Kane Williamson is unavailable for ODI selection due to his commitments in the SA20 league.
Andrew McDonald backs Mitch Marsh for Australian captaincy
New Zealand will pin their hopes on a rookie attack and field a new wicketkeeper when they take on the West Indies in the second Test in Wellington starting on Wednesday following a slew of injuries.
'It was just put the ball in the right areas, don't try too much and see what happens.'
Australia will also welcome Matt Short back into the side at No.3, forming part of a refreshed middle order alongside Renshaw, Owen, Cooper Connolly, and wicketkeeper Josh Philippe, who replaces the injured Josh Inglis (calf).
Mitch Owen has been rewarded for his fine form in his first five Twenty20 internationals by being named in both of Australia's squads for short-format series against South Africa in the far north of the country next month.
Cummins remains a doubtful for the Ashes opener at Perth starting on November 21 but Marsh is among the players who would be in fray for selection for the opening Test of the five-match series.
Australia's selectors chairman George Bailey defended sticking with the Test side's veteran core for the Ashes on Wednesday following criticism from former captain Steve Waugh about the team's ageing profile.
Swing bowler Jacob Duffy took 4/35 as New Zealand cruised to an emphatic eight-wicket victory over West Indies in the fifth and final Twenty20 International in Dunedin on Thursday, clinching the series 3-1.
Play was called off following a long delay after England's innings, in which the tourists scored 153-6 in 20 overs on a difficult wicket, with Sam Curran (49 not out) finishing well after Jos Buttler (29) failed to build on a good start.
'He is not changing it anymore and hopefully he sticks to it and plays many more knocks like this for us.'
Since India last played a bilateral series against Australia in their home territory just before the ODI World Cup in 2023, 'Ro-Ko' have been sensational.
'There will be guys that get opportunities. We've obviously got a few guys missing for this series (for) a well-earned rest.'
India captain Shubman Gill admitted that dropped catches and a total which was just adequate cost his side dearly as Australia clinched the ODI series with a disciplined all-round performance in Adelaide on Thursday.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction saw some foreign names earning big bucks, headlined by Aussie all-rounder Cameron Green
Australia's stand-in captain Mitchell Marsh continued his fine run of form on Sunday, scoring 46 not out and leading his side to a seven-wicket triumph over India in the weather-affected first one-day international at Perth Stadium.
Finn Allen has been ruled out of the tournament after suffering a foot injury while representing the San Francisco Unicorns in the Major League Cricket in the United States.
England recovered from a disastrous start as captain Brook bludgeoned 135 from 101 balls and Jamie Overton made 46 to help their side finish on 223 all out in 35.2 overs for a fighting chance in the contest.
Expect some fireworks for the highly-versatile Cameron Green along with Quinton de Kock, Matheesha Pathirana, Venkatesh Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi.
Delhi-born cricketer Nikhil Chaudhary set for Sheffield Shield debut for Tasmania in season 2025-26
'Look, they (India) are a fantastic team, one which we have great respect for and I think five-match series are going to provide a lot of excitement for the fans that are coming to watch.'
The Aussies also named a 14-player group for the first two T20I matches against India, with Nathan Ellis and Josh Inglis earning recalls after they missed the recent T20I series with South Africa.
Mitch Marsh, an integral part of the Australian squad, has returned to his hometown of Perth for personal reasons
The cricketing ecosystem has learned to survive the prolonged absence of Kohli and Rohit -- at least in two formats -- in this interim period.
The 35-year-old left-armer retires with 79 wickets from 65 T20Is, second on the all-time list for Australia, behind spinner Adam Zampa.
Australian star all-rounder Glenn Maxwell is hopeful of regaining fitness in time for the latter half of the upcoming T20 International series against India after undergoing surgery on his fractured right wrist.
NZ hand young talent contracts as big guns remain casual
The Indians have not featured in ODIs in recent months but Kuldeep Yadav (650) and Ravindra Jadeja (616) still remained static at number three and number nine in the latest ODI rankings for bowlers.
Bavuma said his hamstring was 'feeling good' ahead of his return, and the South African skipper also confirmed he would bat at number three for the opening match of the three-game series behind openers Ryan Rickelton and Aiden Markram.
Australia Women's team captain Alyssa Healy on Wednesday said that her husband and fast bowler Mitchell Starc deserved the record-breaking IPL paycheck as he has worked hard for many years.
'We're noticing all surface-to-missile sites that were just sitting there ready to go.'
'It's a long series, our bowlers have had a really big workload and we feel we're going to need Mitch's bowling at some point.'
Regular captain Pat Cummins, fellow quick Josh Hazlewood and all-rounder Mitch Marsh have been ruled out with injuries, while Marcus Stoinis withdrew himself after his shock decision to quit ODIs on Thursday.
Pooran is only behind his West Indian counterparts Chris Gayle to achieved the landmark in just 50 innings and Andre Russell who took 72 innings to smash 150 maximums.
Ahead of the auction last year, he was let go by SRH, an opportunity that Lucknow Super Giants scooped up. Seeing Samad's potential, the Zaheer Khan-mentored team bought his services for Rs 4.2 crores at the auction table.
New Zealand stumper-batsman Tom Latham was ruled out of the one-day series against Pakistan with a hand leaving Michael Bracewell to continue as the side's captain.
