Australian cricketers Sam Konstas on the left and Jhye Richardson on the right. (Cricket Australia)
19-year-old Sam Konstas has been added to the Australian Test squad in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy for the remaining two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney. The teenage prospect scored an impressive ton against India representing the Prime Minister’s XI earlier this month in the warm-up game at Canberra.
Nathan McSweeney who made his debut in Perth has had his fair share of troubles against the likes of Indian ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah as a result has been axed from the squad. “The squad provides options as to how we structure the XI for the final two Tests of the series,” said Chief Selector George Bailey on the group picked.
“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. We remain confident Nathan (McSweeney) has the ability and temperament to succeed at Test level in the future. It was a difficult decision to leave him out,” he added. “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 lineup for the next two matches.”
In addition to the change in the batting department, with Josh Hazlewood getting ruled out of the series with an injury the selectors have named West Australian Jhye Richardson as replacement. The 28-year-old in three Tests he played so far has picked up 11 wickets at an average of 22.09. Once Considered amongst fast bowlers with a lot of potential in Australian cricket Richardson’s career has been curtailed by injuries.
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
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