Cricket Australia has announced its 18 men’s squad for the Test series (Border Gavaskar Trophy) against India. An 18 men’s squad has been named for the Australia Tour of India and what’s surprising is that Australia has decided to include four specialist spinners in the squad despite being considered a pace-heavy team. Four Test matches between India and Australia will be played at Nagpur, Delhi, Dharamsala and Ahmedabad during the month of February and March.
Australia Squad for Test Series against India
Pat Cummins (capt), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner
An 18-player Test squad has been assembled for the Qantas Tour of India in February and March.
— Cricket Australia (@CricketAus) January 11, 2023
Congratulations to everyone selected! pic.twitter.com/3fmCci4d9b
Australia Squad for India Tour- Highlights
Australia has included four spinners including Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Ashton Agar and Mitchell Swepson. The Indian pitches are known to be rank turners, and Australia has prepared its squad accordingly. Todd Murphy is an uncapped Australian spinner, while Lyon, Agar and Swepson have already played against India.
Pat Cummins will be the captain for the Test series against India, while Steve Smith is tasked with Vice Captaincy of the team.
Lance Morris, the uncapped Australian pacer, has been included as a backup in the squad. It is also reported that Mitchell Starc has not recovered from his finger tendon injury that he suffered in Sydney during the last Test against South Africa. Starc won’t be available for the first Test match against India, but he is retained in the squad.
Usman Khawaja and David Warner are two first-choice openers, while Marcus Harris has missed out. Warner has recently said that he will retire in one year from international cricket, and this could be his last Test series against India.
Cricket Australia has only gone with Alex Carey as the wicketkeeper for the Test series against India. If Carey suffers an injury, then Peter Handscomb will be the only one who could replace him in the matches.