Australia have announced their squad for the four-match Test series against India, which will begin at Pune on February 23. The Aussies have named four spinners for the series: Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Agar, Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe with the first being the newsmaker.
Australia will travel to this country for practice before facing Virat Kohli's team
In the batting department, however, there were no major surprises. Besides captain Steve Smith, David Warner, Usman Khawaja and Peter Handscomb were the mainstay besides Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell, who is also known for his gentle off-spinners and could be handy in the Indian conditions.
Australia have always depended on their pace battery and bowlers like Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have done the job of the pacers well in the era post the Mcgraths and Gillespies. But keeping in mind the signficance of slow pitches in India, the Australian selectors have gone for four spinners this time. Australia haven't won a single Test in India since the 2004-05 series which they had won. They have lost eight of their last 10 Tests played in India with the hosts whitewashing them 4-0 in 2012-13.
Among the four spinners that Australia have picked for the series, leg-spinner Swepson is yet to play for the national side. Cricket Australia's chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said 23-year-old Swepson is a talented bowler and he has been given a chance to shine in conditions that will favour him.
"Mitchell is an exciting young leg-spinner that has come through the pathway system. We feel he has a lot of potential and want to see him take his opportunity in conditions that should suit him should he get a chance," the Sydney Morning Herlad quoted Hohns as saying.
"We don't know what pitch conditions we will come up against in each of the venues but wanted to have flexibility and options available to us," Hohns said.
"We know India is an incredibly tough place to tour and have success in, with most International teams struggling to adapt to the conditions. But we have chosen a squad which we believe will work really hard in its endeavours to perform well and give a good account of itself in the sub-continent."
Of the four spinners, however, Agar and O'Keefe are also newcommers in the Test arena and it will be for 63-game-veteran Lyon to lead the pack.
Australia will play India in four Tests between February 23 and March 29. Bengaluru, Ranchi and Dharamsala will host the second, third and final Tests after Pune staging the first.
Australia Squad for Tests in India: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Wade (wk), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird, Nathan Lyon, Stephen O'Keefe, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Swepson.
