The seam bowler edges out Glenn Maxwell and will earn his first baggy cap on Friday.
In a bold move, Australia have opted to play a four-man pace attack against India in the first Test of the series on Friday. The match will be played at Chennai, a pitch considered to be spin-friendly and yet Australia have left their other spinner, Glenn Maxwell, out of the team.
Instead they have decided to award a first cap to pace bowler Moises Henriques. At 26-years-old and after some inconsistent form in the last few seasons it may have seemed that Test cricket had passed Henriques by.
He has hugely impressed this season though and caught the selectors’ eye. Now he is relishing the task ahead.
“It [Test cricket] wasn’t really in my list of goals at the start of this first-class season, but things have sped up the process and I can’t say how much I’m looking forward to the opportunity,” Henriques told Fox Sports.
The decision to play Henriques instead of Maxwell is considered to be a huge gamble by Australia, as Nathan Lyon is now their only spin-bowler in the starting XI. This is compared to the three spinners India have named; in Ravichandran Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha and Harbhajan Singh.
It is very rare that two Test sides opt for such contradicting bowling tactics. Although the MA Chidambaram is widely recognised as a spinner’s surface, Australia could be declared tactical masters if their gamble pays off. Either way, the two different approaches should make for an explosive match.
Other positive news for the Australians is that David Warner has recovered sufficiently from his thumb injury to open the batting with Ed Cowan.
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