Left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann has been called up to Australia’s squad in India and could make his Test debut in Delhi on Friday.
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The chances of Kuhnemann coming straight into contention are reasonably high with Australia desperate to find an option to try and replicate the success Ravindra Jadeja enjoyed in the opening Test having not had the faith to select Ashton Agar in Nagpur.
Kuhnemann is inexperienced at first-class level with 35 wickets at 34.80 in 13 matches and often struggles to get a starting place for Queensland when Swepson is available. However, he showed promise when he made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka after being a late addition to that squad and was close to making this original tour party.
Todd Murphy, who was preferred to Agar, had an outstanding debut with 7 for 124 in just his eighth first-class match as the one bright spot for Australia in their innings thrashing.
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However, Kuhnemann’s selection would likely require Australia to go down the route of three specialist spinners and will depend on the nature of the surface in Delhi and the fitness of Cameron Green so that he could share the pace bowling with captain Pat Cummins.
Green is making promising progress in his recovery from the broken finger he suffered at the MCG against South Africa and has built up his workload over the last few days in Nagpur. He had two-hour batting sessions and is bowling close to full capacity. The main concern for the management has been building up Green’s bowling after the layoff.
Mitchell Starc has arrived in Dehli having missed the start of the tour as he recovered from the finger injury he also sustained in Melbourne. Australia face some tricky decisions over how to balance their side if they want to include Starc. Scott Boland was unfortunate to finish wicketless in the first Test.
Meanwhile, Matt Renshaw’s knee will continue to be monitored after he spent considerable time off the field on the second day in Nagpur. He had retained his place in the middle order when Travis Head was left out but made just 0 and 2 at No. 5.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo
