Cricket Australia (CA) have announced a 17-man squad for the upcoming Test series against India, giving opportunities to a number of emerging players to showcase their skills in the sub-continent.
The first Test of the four-match series between the two countries is going to commence from February 22, 2013, at Chennai.
Good news for the Kangaroos is that Shane Watson and James Pattinson have made it to the squad, although the duo has missed a lot of international cricket this season because of fitness issues.
David Warner, who has been ruled out of the limited-overs series against West Indies, having injured his finger yesterday during practice in Perth, has also been included in the team.
While announcing the squad, John Inverarity, the national selector, expressed that CA has opted for a 17-man squad to make sure that Michael Clarke and company have a number of options available against the Men in Blue, who will be eager to avenge their last season’s whitewash at the hands of the Baggy Greens.
Inverarity also backs Xavier Doherty to come good on the spin-friendly pitches in India. The left-arm spinner has been included in the Test team for the first time since December, 2010.
"It is a large squad and we felt as though we needed that for flexibility," the national selector said. "We're certainly looking for a right-arm finger-spinner and a left-arm finger-spinner. Xavier [Doherty] has been bowling very well lately.”
The national selector is expecting Usman Khawaja to fill the void left by Michael Hussey, who retired after the recently-finished Test series against Sri Lanka at home.
"Usman is very much to the fore of our thinking," Inverarity added. "I was in Canberra the other day when he got 69 [for the Prime Minister's XI] against the West Indies and played really well. I think Usman is a very good chance of being in the first Test team."
Australia’s Test Squad: David Warner, Ed Cowan, Phillip Hughes, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke (capt),Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Matthew Wade (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Moises Henriques, Mitchell Johnson, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle, Jackson Bird, Xavier Doherty and Nathan Lyon.
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