Australia have revealed their squad for the final two Test matches against India, with Jhye Richardson being included into the squad for the first time in almost three years. Meanwhile, Nathan McSweeney has been dropped from the squad while young batter Sam Konstas has received his first call.
Pacer Sean Abbott returns to the squad whereas Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the remainder of the Test summer. Konstas has been in supreme form and was also in searing form at the U-19 World Cup in South Africa. Konstas, in his maiden BBL appearance for Sydney Thunder, smacked 56 off 27 balls against Adelaide Strikers, further reaffirming his status as a powerful batter.
"Sam gets a call up to the Test squad for the first time. His style of batting offers a point of difference and we look forward to watching his game develop further," Chair of Selectors George Bailey said.
"We remain confident Nathan has the ability and temperament to succeed at Test level in the future. It was a difficult decision to leave him out. It has clearly been a challenge at the top of the order for batters throughout the series and we want to provide the option of a different line up for the next two matches," Bailey added.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Travis Head (vc), Steve Smith (vc), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster