Australia have announced a 14-member squad for the first two Tests against India, slated to begin from December 6. The announcement came hours after their dramatic victory over the men in blue in the first T20I at the Gabba on Wednesday.
While Usman Khawaja returns to the side from injury, the team has given a maiden call-up to Marcus Harris who plays for Victoria in the domestic circuit. He grabbed the opportunity of donning the baggy green following his terrific run in the Sheffield Shield where he scored an unbeaten 250 against New South Wales, averaging 87.40 this season.
Apart from Harris, Chris Tremain is another Aussie player who is yet to represent his country in whites. He took 24 wickets (at an average of 20.45) in the Sheffield Shield for Victoria and had made his ODI debut for Australia in 2016.
At the same time, Peter Handscomb, who missed the Tests against Pakistan has been recalled while Mitch Marsh and Josh Hazelwood have been named as skipper Tim Paine’s deputies.
"The squad features a talented group of batsmen and bowlers who have displayed good form in the Sheffield Shield competition to date. We will select a final team of 12 prior to each Test, and the two remaining squad members will be released to get important match time in the Sheffield Shield,” national selector Trevor Hohns said in a statement.
On the other hand, players with the likes of Matt Renshaw, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Jon Holland and Brendan Doggett were being considered for the Test team but failed to make it into the squad.
“The players have had the opportunity to put their best case forward for selection through the JLT Cup and Sheffield Shield, but unfortunately haven’t done enough to earn selection.”, Hohns said on the aforementioned players' snub.
Here’s the Australian squad for the first two Tests:
Tim Paine (c, wk), Aaron Finch, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh (vc), Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain, Peter Siddle