Australia has finalized an 18-member squad for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar trophy in India, which is scheduled to be commencing on 9th February. Four spinners have been included in the squad to India by the visitors, with rising star Todd Murphy battling it out with Mitchell Swepson and Ashton Agar to be the spin partner of Nathan Lyon.
Peter Handscomb has also been recalled to the Test squad for the first time since January 2019 and will join Matt Renshaw in the reserve batters list. Marcus Harris has received a snub from the squad. Uncapped fast bowler, Lance Morris has managed to retain his place in the squad and could make his Test debut in India as Mitchell Starc will not be playing the opening Test in Nagpur.
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All-rounder Cameron Green also faces a race against time to regain fitness for the opening Test in the Border-Gavaskar trophy after sustaining an injury during the Boxing Day Test against South Africa. Young spinner Murphy has also been included in the squad after his impressive performances for Victoria, Australia A, and Prime Minister’s XI over the past year.
Speaking about the inclusion of the 22-year-old on Cricket Australia’s official website, Chairman of the selection committee, George Bailey, said that Murphy had shown immense progress in recent times, having impressed on the domestic circuit and has emerged as a strong spin option.
Describing the same, George Bailey said, “Todd Murphy has progressed quickly having impressed in domestic cricket and recently with Australia A. With those performances Todd has emerged as a strong spin option.”
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He further added, “Selection in this squad also provides another opportunity to spend time alongside Nathan Lyon and assistant coach Daniel Vettori in India which will be invaluable to his development.”
Australia Test squad for India tour: Pat Cummins (c), 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 (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
