Australia have named uncapped all-rounders Glenn Maxwell and Moises Henriques along with spinner Xavier Doherty in their 17-man squad for their four-Test tour of India.
All-rounder Steve Smith has also been recalled, while opening batsman David Warner is also on the squad announced on Thursday, despite being under a cloud after breaking a thumb during practice.
James Pattinson was named in a five-man pace attack after missing most of the Australian summer with a rib injury.
Australia play the first Test in Chennai on February 22.
Commenting on the squad, National selector John Inverarity said: “The first Test is scheduled to begin on February 22 in Chennai and, prior to the Test match, we have a good opportunity for members of the squad to get well acclimatised to the conditions with two warm-up fixtures.
“In the next 48 hours the NSP will finalise which players will go to India early, once we have all available information and have finalised the squad for the final three Commonwealth Bank Series matches. "
The squad, he said, has "the flexibility that will be required for the varying conditions expected in India and it will provide valuable experience to a number of young players".
“The squad includes a spin bowling all-rounder in Maxwell and a medium-fast all-rounder in Henriques. In aiming for more depth in a bowling attack, the squad would allow for three pace bowlers, a leading spinner and Maxwell or two pace bowlers, the two spinners and Henriques. These are two of the options.
“Xavier Doherty also returns to the Test squad. We certainly feel he is much improved in the longer format of the game since he made his Test debut in 2010-11 against England.
“It is a long tour and a very important one as we look to continue our improvement in Test cricket and our quest to return to the top of the ICC Test cricket rankings. We are also building towards back-to-back Ashes series,” Inverarity said.
The Australian one-day squad for games three, four and five of the Commonwealth Bank Series against West Indies will be announced on Saturday, along with confirming which players will travel to India with the advance group.
Tour Matches:
12-13 February: Guru Nanak Ground, Chennai
16-18 February: Guru Nanak Ground, Chennai
Border-Gavaskar Test series:
February 22 - 26: First Test, M.A. Chidambaram stadium, Chennai
March 2 - 6: Second Test, Rajiv Gandhi stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad
March 14 - 18: Third Test, PCA stadium, Mohali
March 22 - 26: Fourth Test, Ferozeshah Kotla, Delhi
Australia squad: Michael Clarke (captain), Shane Watson, David Warner, Ed Cowan, Phillip Hughes, Matthew Wade, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Jackson Bird, Xavier Doherty, Moises Henriques, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Peter Siddle.
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