Mitchell Swepson has landed a spot in Australia’s India tour squad © Cricket Australia/Getty Images
Uncapped leg spinner Mitchell Swepson is one of four slow bowlers chosen in Australia’s Test squad for the arduous tour of India in February and March, as the visitors seek to end a wretched recent record run in Asian conditions.
Swepson, whose cause had been championed by Shane Warne, joined Nathan Lyon, Steve O’Keefe and Ashton Agar in the 16-man tour party, which also includes the recalled allrounders Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh.
“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 interim selection chairman Trevor Hohns said.
“Ashton is a good left-arm orthodox spinner who can be very exciting with the bat and also fields extremely well. He provides us with a great all-round package.
“We know Glenn plays very well against spin and has a lot of experience playing in India. We think his ability with the bat, coupled with his handy off-spin will complement the bowling unit if required. We consider Mitchell as a bowling all-rounder and should we decide to play a two pace and two spin bowling attack it is important to have that third seam bowling option if conditions suit.”
Australia’s preparation for India will begin with a stint in Dubai before the squad reaches India. “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.
“We expect all of the young players chosen to benefit immensely from the experience.”
Australia has not won a Test match in India since their last successful tour of the nation, in 2004.
India squad: Steven Smith (capt), David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Pete Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Agar, Steve O’Keefe, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird, Nathan Lyon
More to come…
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo