5 Australians on their maiden India tour

Australia last won a Test match on Indian soil in 2004, in the heady days of Shane Warne, Glenn Mcgrath, Matthew Hayden and other such buccaneers. Since then, there have been 11 Tests between the two sides in India, with the home side winning 9 and two being drawn. Michael Clarke, for all his successes in India, cannot boast of leading his team to a single Test win in India.

Captain Steve Smith, who will be on his second Test tour of India, having played under Clarke in 2013, will be looking to buck the trend in the 4-Test series starting later this week and continuing to the end of March. India vs Australia 2017: Ready for a piece of history

The Australian batting line-up wears a new look. Quite a few youngsters have been brought in, in hope that they deal with the subcontinent’s low and slow tracks better than their seniors. Of the sixteen players named in the squad, nine players were part of the 2013 series as well – Smith, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Jackson Bird, Nathan Lyon, Ashton Agar.

Of the remaining seven, three have exposure to Indian conditions, having played in the IPL.

Also Read: 5 Australian greats who made their Test debuts against India

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# 1 Steve O’Keefe

O’Keefe has played only 4 Tests in his career, but is likely to get this tally doubled at the end of this India series. The 32-year-old left-arm orthodox spinner will possibly partner Nathan Lyon to bowl those long spells of spin through the day. He claimed 4 Pakistan wickets in his only Test of the series at home in January this year, and 3 wickets in the warm-up match against India A, thus putting him in good stead in terms of selection.

O’Keefe was also part of an Australia A team that toured India in 2015, playing against a team that consisted of Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul and others, winning one match and drawing the other. He is preparing for what could be the defining series in his international career by seeking advice from spinners who have had success in India. Also, he pulled out midway from the Big Bash League to prepare for the longer format.

O’Keefe is also a handy batsman lower down the order, and because of this ability he has to spend long periods at the crease, he is likely to be chosen as the side’s bowling all-rounder, with the selections of Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh depending on how the batsmen fare through the series.

Performance in warm-up match – 8*, 3/101, 19*

# 2 Peter Handscomb

Yet another certainty in the Australian XI who has no experience of the Indian summer is middle order batsman and back-up wicketkeeper Peter Handscomb. Having scored 399 runs in his fledgeling career of 4 Tests with a Bradmanesque average of 99.75, such is the consistency he has shown that there is no way this 25-year-old can be dropped.

Handscomb has been on the sidelines of an international call-up for a few years now, and 2016-17 looks to be his season of reckoning. He holds the unique record of having scored a 50 in each of his first seven Test innings.

What is more, Handscomb belongs to the rare breed of fielders who look like they are specialists in fielding at short leg. Indians should prepare for a long March with Wade and Handscomb chirping away near the bat, with the spinners toiling away.

Performance in warm-up match – 45, 2 catches, 37

# 3 Matt Renshaw

The biggest quandary for the Australian selectors before the first Test is regarding who to pair up with Warner as the opening batsman – the more experience Usman Khawaja who seems to develop a brain-freeze on subcontinental pitches, or the fresh 20-year-old with the temperament to bat through long days, Matt Renshaw.

Had Renshaw performed in the warm-up match, he would surely have been picked, but with scores of 11 and 10 to show only, he might have to wait for Khawaja to fail before he gets a chance to play a Test in India. Renshaw has also played only 4 Tests, having scored 184 in his last Test, against Pakistan in January this year.

Renshaw is of the breed of openers who are happy to play the waiting game, and history suggests Australia might be in need of the solidity he provides before the series is done.

Handscomb and Renshaw might both be very new to the international arena, but there is a lot of hope that they will develop into two great batsmen who will play Test cricket over the next decade. Both of them should be prepared for the toughest test of their mettle yet.

Performance in warm-up match – 11, 10

# 4 Mitchell Swepson

The biggest surprise inclusion in the Australian squad was this 23-year-old leg-spinner, who is the only player of the sixteen to have no Test experience. The latest in Australia’s revolving door of spinners who are anointed by Warne as being his chosen one, Swepson is the proverbial dark horse in the team – he is not expected to get a place in the playing XI over Lyon, O’Keefe and Agar, but might bring an unexpected challenge into the equation if he is given a chance.

Swepson has a reputation of spinning the ball a lot, and on pitches breaking up on the fourth and fifth day, this sounds like a daunting prospect. If the management take the gamble of fielding three spinners in any of the matches, Swepson will be in a tussle with Agar and Maxwell to make it to the XI.

Swepson was arguably the best wrist spinner in the recently concluded BBL season, showing neat variations and a calculating mind. With no long-form success to boast of as yet, this India tour has possibly been awarded to Swepson so that he can gain experience to start off what Australia hope will be a long and fruitful career.

Performance in warm-up match – Did not play

Also Read: India vs Australia 2017: 5 key player battles to watch out for

# 5 Josh Hazlewood and the Marsh brothers

While the Indian team have no acquaintance with the first four, there are three others more familiar to India, who will also be on their first Test tour of the country. Another thing that these three have in common is that their only Asian sojourn was the disastrous tour of Sri Lanka.

Hazlewood has become one of Australia’s mainstays over the last two years, with his bowling figures after 26 Tests looking very similar to that of Glenn Mcgrath at a similar stage. Both Hazlewood and Starc were rested for the warm-up match against India A, so that they are in prime shape to pressure away at the Indian batsmen – Starc following the more direct approach and his partner faithfully tugging away at a line just outside off stump.

Shaun Marsh is also a definite inclusion in the playing XI, forming alongside Smith and Handscomb the middle order. The nature of his stop-start Test career has been a frustration for him and his team, but with his recent run of form, has ensured that he has risen above Khawaja as well in the pecking order.

The persistence of the Australian selectors with Mitchell Marsh has meant that despite having started his career much later, he has played an identical number of Tests as his elder brother – 19. Marsh is likely to be preferred over Maxwell as the side’s batting all-rounder, given his penchant for batting against spin.

Performance in warm-up match –

Hazlewood – Did not play

S Marsh – 104*

M Marsh – 75

Also Read: India vs Australia 2017: Ready for a piece of history