Australia announces squad for final two Tests against India; Konstas earns first call-up as McSweeney dropped

Cricket Australia, on Friday, announced its squad for the remaining two Tests of the Border Gavaskar series against India.

Both nations are tied on 1-1 in the series, heading into the fourth and fifth Test at Melbourne and Sydney respectively.

With veteran pacer Josh Hazlewood out of the series with a calf injury, Sean Abbott returns to the squad along with Beau Webster and Jhye Richardson.

“In the absence of Josh Hazlewood, Jhye provides further options in the fast bowling space. It has been pleasing to see his successful return throughout the early part of the domestic summer,” chair of selectors George Bailey said.

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Sam Konstas earned his first call-up to the national squad and will replace opener Nathan McSweeney, who made his Test debut in the first game at Perth.

“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,” Bailey said.

“We remain confident Nathan has the ability and temperament to succeed at Test level in the future. It was a difficult decision to leave him out,” he added.