In the opening match of the Big Bash League 2023-24, Melbourne Stars will square off against Brisbane Heat on Thursday at The Gabba, Brisbane. Melbourne Stars are returning with the bigger consolidation in the form of Glenn Maxwell who had missed the last season in its entirety due to fracture in his leg. Maxwell will enter the 13th season of the Big Bash League on the back of a superficial campaign at the ODI World Cup 2023 where he announced himself with the double-hundred knock against Afghanistan. Recently, he also played in the third T20I game against India where he remained unbeaten with his 104-run knock. Going into this game, Maxwell will be high on confidence and would look forward to getting his team to a positive start. Melbourne Stars will also have the availability of strong players like Tom Rogers, Sam Harper and Marcus Stoinis among others. Haris Rauf and Usama Mir have also been given approval by Pakistan to get into the BBL which will further solidify the Stars. 

During the last season, Melbourne Stars had finished at the bottom in the points table with three wins from their fourteen games. This time around, Stars will be entering the tournament with a new vigour under the captaincy of Glenn Maxwell. Brisbane Heat, on the other hand, had suffered a big debacle in the final after losing to Perth Scorchers. They had run a massive campaign in the previous season after winning six out of their fourteen games. Usman Khawaja will be leading Brisbane Heat in the presence of terrific players like Marnus Labuschagne, Colin Munro and Sam Billings among others. 

Melbourne Stars Probable XI: Tom Rogers, Sam Harper, Glenn Maxwell, Hilton Cartwright, Marcus Stoinis, Beau Webster, Liam Dawson, Usama Mir, Joel Paris, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Haris Rauf

Brisbane Heat Probable XI: Josh Brown, Usman Khawaja (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Colin Munro, Sam Billings (wk), Paul Walter, Max Bryant, Spencer Johnson, Michael Neser, Mitch Swepson, Matthew Kuhnemann