Kuhnemann on debut, Head returns in Aussie shake-up
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Lyon reflects on tough but rewarding 2013 India tour
Australia have taken a major gamble by blooding untried spinner Matthew Kuhnemann in a three-pronged spin attack for their must-win Border Gavaskar Trophy clash in Delhi, while Travis Head has earned a surprise recall.
With a thick layer of smog blanketing Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday morning, Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat as the Aussies made one of their boldest selection moves in recent times.
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Matthew Kuhnemann
India XI: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Cummins is the sole paceman as Kuhnemann becomes the second spinner in as many Tests to make his debut following Todd Murphy’s star turn in Nagpur last week.
The Queenslander received his cap from Marnus Labuschagne before play on Friday morning.
India meanwhile have made one change, with fit-again batter Shreyas Iyer replacing Suryakumar Yadav.
It had appeared a debut to Kuhnemann, who has only played two first-class games for the Bulls this season, had hinged on the fitness of allrounder Cameron Green.
But while Green has not recovered from a finger injury to take his spot in the team, Australia have decided to go in with three spinners in Kuhnemann, Murphy and Nathan Lyon even without the 23-year-old’s seam-bowling reinforcement.
Mitchell Starc was also deemed not fit enough to play as he continues to recover from a finger injury.
Australia have not gone into a Test with just one fast bowler since 2017 when they beat Bangladesh in Chittagong with Cummins the sole quick behind spinners Lyon, Ashton Agar and Stephen O’Keefe.
The selection of Head over Matthew Renshaw is a surprise given the South Australian was dropped for the Nagpur Test due to his poor record in Asia.
Selector Tony Dodemaide told reporters that Renshaw was unlucky to lose his place but Head’s ability to bowl handy off-spin had seen him win a recall.
“‘Renners’ is really stiff,” said Dodemaide. “There’s no slight on him. He’s very much a valued player in our team planning moving forward.
“He was quite stiff, particularly in the first innings there (in Nagpur). So he hasn’t been dropped for those performances, (he was) left out.
“The key point between Renners and Heady was we thought we were short of fifth bowling support in Nagpur.
“We feel as Heady, even though he’s an off-spinner that goes the same way (as Lyon and Murphy), that he’s a more robust option for a fifth bowler as a chop out as required.”
Kuhnemann bowled well in his maiden ODI series in Sri Lanka last year when injury sidelined Agar, but only has 13 first-class games to his name and is not even Queensland’s first-choice spinner.
Their lead tweaker, Mitchell Swepson, might have been a chance to play in Delhi had he not flown back to Brisbane for the birth of his first child.
Dodemaide conceded Agar, the left-arm spinner initially picked in this squad, was lacking in form, allowing Kuhnemann to leapfrog him in the pecking order.
“His red-ball game is not quite where he wants it to be,” Dodemaide said of Agar.
“Matt Kuhnemann has come over and impressed – he got a chance in Sri Lanka, albeit in limited-overs form, he’s played well in domestic cricket this season.
“And he’s impressed us in the nets. We just feel his style at the moment is more suited to these conditions.”
Border-Gavaskar Qantas Tour of India 2023
February 9-13: India won by an innings and 132 runs
February 17-21: Second Test, Delhi, 3pm AEDT
March 1-5: Third Test, Indore, 3pm AEDT
March 9-13: Fourth Test, Ahmedabad, 3pm AEDT
All matches will be broadcast live and exclusive on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner
India squad: (for the first two Tests) Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav
