The Australian squad selected for the two-Test series in India shows two surprises: the inclusion of out-of-form Marcus North and the exclusion of talented young batsman, Usman Khawaja. The dropping of Pakistan-born NSW batsman Khawaja is disappointing because he was not given an opportunity on the recent tour of England.
Perhaps he will be picked for the one-day internationals following the Test series.
Here is the 15-man Test squad led by Ricky Ponting with Michael Clarke as the vice-captain.
Specialist batsmen: Simon Katich, Phillip Hughes and Shane Watson as openers – all from NSW, Ponting (Tasmania), Clarke (NSW), Michael Hussey and North (WA).
Fast to fast-medium bowlers: Mitchell Johnson (WA), Ben Hilfenhaus (Tas), Doug Bollinger and Josh Hazlewood (NSW) and Peter George (SA).
Spinners: Nathan Hauritz and Steven Smith (NSW).
Wicket-keeper batsman: Tim Paine (Tas).
North, Clarke and Katich are useful spinners, Watson can bowl medium-pace, and Johnson can bat.
So it is a well-balanced side, but one wishes that David Hussey from Victoria or Khawaja was selected ahead of North.
It is interesting that eight out of 15 (53.33%) are from NSW, three each from Tasmania and WA, and one from SA. Surprisingly, not one player from Victoria or Queensland is in the squad.
Chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said: “While the excitement builds for the forthcoming Vodafone Ashes, the immediate focus for this squad is the Test series against India.
“India is ranked number one in Test cricket and there is no harder assignment in Test cricket at the moment than playing India on their home soil. The Australian squad is really looking forward to the challenge.”
When will no.1 wicket-keeper Brad Haddin be available?
“He is making good progress with rehabilitation of his elbow tendon injury. He is on track to be available for club cricket and for NSW with the possibility of being available for selection in the India or Sri Lanka One-day International series”, said Australian physiotherapist Alex Kountouris.
How will the selected team fare in India?
India has the home advantage as shown by the figures below:
Australia has won 22 and lost only 5 of the 36 Tests played against India in Australia. But India leads 13-12 in India. Ponting’s men will have to win both the Tests in India this October to have a 14-13 lead on Indian soil.
Ponting also has contrasting batting figures home and away. In Australia he has an imposing average of 79.35 in 11 Tests against India. But he has a poor average of 20.85 in 12 Tests in India.
Overall, he has scored 1787 runs at 47.02 in 23 Tests against India.
Thus he needs 213 runs to become the first Australian to score 2000 runs against India. So far Matthew Hayden leads with 1888 runs at 59.00 in 18 Tests against India.
An important landmark will be reached in this series.
India’s Rahul Dravid requires four catches to become the only non wicket-keeper to take 200 catches in Test annals. So far he has held 196 in 142 Tests. Next best are Mark Waugh, 181 in 128 Tests and Ponting 172 in 146.
Probably the most popular Aussie in Wales, Marnus Labuschagne rarely lets down the fans at his Glamorgan "second home". The Test batting maestro was…
RCB were initially questioned after bringing Maxi on with the new rock. It worked a treat as he dismissed Ruturaj Gaikwad first ball.
Faf du Plessis took one of the catches of the tournament as Royal Challengers Bengaluru qualified for the IPL playoffs with a 27-run win.…
Jonny Bairstow wants to never mention it again and Alex Carey got sick of hearing about it but the firestorm surrounding their dramatic incident…
Arjun Tendulkar fell victim to the humidity as he cramped up, but he wished he had taken himself off as he delivered two gifts…
New Zealand took 28 years to win a Test match, finally triumphing in 1956. There were plenty of skilled individuals before that but not a complete team.
