Josh Hazlewood remains in contention to play the World Test Championship final against India after being included in Australia’s 15-man squad.
Australia have pushed Mitchell Marsh and Matt Renshaw into their reserves from the 17 players that have been selected for the Ashes.
He is one of four specialist quicks in the squad alongside captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland. Michael Neser and Sean Abbott will train with the team in the lead-up, with Neser a strong contender to replace Hazlewood in the main squad if required. Any changes from now on will require approval of the ICC’s technical committee.
Josh Inglis, who is yet to play a Test, has found a place in the squad, as has Todd Murphy, who made his Test debut in India earlier this year.
Both the uncapped Ishan Kishan and Jaydev Unadkat, who had injured his left shoulder during the IPL and was ruled out of the tournament, figure in the squad of 15. Kishan, who came in after the injury to KL Rahul during the IPL, is likely to be back-up for KS Bharat, India’s first-choice Test wicketkeeper in Rishabh Pant’s absence.
Also a part of the India squad is Shardul Thakur, who had missed three games in the IPL because of a niggle, and was not fit to bowl in a few games.
India’s reserves are Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav and Jaiswal.
The match will be played at The Oval from June 7 to 11, with June 12 pencilled in as the reserve day. The winners will earn US$ 1.6 million, while the runners-up will earn $800,000.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (capt), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Steven Smith (vice-capt), Mitchell Starc, David Warner.
Standbys: Mitchell Marsh, Matt Renshaw
India squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk).
Standbys: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav
