The National Selection Panel today announced a 17-man squad for the VB Tour of India.
The Australian squad is:
Michael Clarke (c)
Shane Watson (vc)
Jackson Bird
Ed Cowan
Xavier Doherty
Moises Henriques
Phillip Hughes
Mitchell Johnson
Usman Khawaja
Nathan Lyon
Glenn Maxwell
James Pattinson
Peter Siddle
Steve Smith
Mitchell Starc
Matthew Wade
David Warner
“This squad has the flexibility that will be required for the varying conditions expected in India and it will provide valuable experience to a number of young players," National Selector John Inverarity said.
“The squad includes a spin bowling all-rounder in Maxwell and a medium-fast all-rounder in Henriques. In aiming for more depth in a bowling attack, the squad would allow for three pace bowlers, a leading spinner and Maxwell or two pace bowlers, the two spinners and Henriques. These are two of the options."
Xavier Doherty's recent form has also seen him selected in the Test squad.
"We certainly feel he is much improved in the longer format of the game since he made his Test debut in 2010-11 against England. He adds further flexibility to the squad, depending on the conditions."
Inverarity also explained how the players would prepare for the Indian Tour.
“The First Test is scheduled to begin on 22 February in Chennai and, prior to the Test match, we have a good opportunity for members of the squad to get well acclimatised to the conditions with two warm-up fixtures.
“In the next 48 hours the NSP will finalise which players will go to India early, once we have all available information and have finalised the squad for the final three Commonwealth Bank Series matches.
“It is a long tour and a very important one as we look to continue our improvement in Test cricket and our quest to return to the top of the ICC Test cricket rankings. We are also building towards back-to-back Ashes series."
The Australian one-day squad for games three, four and five of the Commonwealth Bank Series against West Indies will be announced on Saturday, along with confirming which players will travel to India with the advance group.
First Posted 31 January, 2013 11:44AM AEST
