Australia team for India Tests: Will Pucovski and Cameron Green earn maiden call-ups; Joe Burns retained

Australia team for India Tests: The Australian selectors have named a 17-member squad for a four-match Test series against India.

Australia have named a 17-member squad for their forthcoming four-match Test series against India. Uncapped batsmen and all-rounder in Will Pucovski and Cameron Green respectively have earned maiden call-ups to the Test team on the back of solid performances in the ongoing season of Sheffield Shield.

Having scored 495 runs in three innings including a couple of double centuries, Pucovski is the leading run-scorer in this season’s Sheffield Shield. Green, on the other hand, is the fourth-highest run-scorer so far with his 363 runs in six innings coming at an average of 72.60.

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Spinner Mitchell Swepson and fast bowlers in Sean Abbott and Michael Neser are the other three uncapped players in the squad. With both of them also handy candidates with the bat, Australia could use them in the role of a pace-bowling all-rounder especially in the absence of Mitchell Marsh.

Current Test opening batsman Joe Burns, who has scored 57 runs in five innings at a paltry average of 11.40, has been retained in the squad. However, he is highly likely to face competition from Pucovski for the opener’s role alongside David Warner.

Australia team for India Tests

Sean Abbott, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

Cameron Green and Will Pucovski headline a list of five uncapped players in an extended 17-man Australian Test squad @alintaenergy | #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/OiMqyA8yid

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) November 12, 2020

Following the 13th season of the Indian Premier League, the Indian players have flown to Australia from UAE itself. With the series set to follow bio-bubble protocols, the Indian team will undergo a mandatory quarantine period before playing the first ODI on November 27. The first of the four Tests will commence from December 17.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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