Australia's head coach Andrew McDonald has confirmed that Australia will play the second Test of the five-match series against India with the same 13-man squad that competed in Adelaide. However, there are concerns around Mitchell Marsh's fitness after he delivered 17 overs in the Perth Test, the most he has bowled in the format in three years.
For the unversed, Australia lost to India in the first Test by a huge margin of 295 runs, their second-biggest loss at the home in last 40 years. The hosts are under immense pressure now to make a comeback and they have kept the faith in the existing group of players. McDonald conceded that they will keep a close eye on Marsh after his bowling workload in Perth.
Australia have Josh Inglis and Scott Boland in their squad apart from the 11 that featured in the previous Test. If Marsh doesn't feature in Adelaide and Boland replaces him, their batting, which is already a concern, will become extremely thin. If Inglis is included, then Australia will only be with three specialist fast bowlers for the pink ball Test match.
"The same people in that changeroom are the same people that will be in Adelaide. We'll wait and see (on Marsh's fitness)," the Aussie head coach said. When asked if the playing XI for the Adelaide Test will be the same or Inglis is in the reckoning to feature, McDonald said, "We'll assess that as we go along, but as I said the squad that's in there, they'll be in Adelaide."
In the aftermath of the 295-run drubbing, the entire Australian squad is set to convene on Monday (December 2), a day earlier than the original plan. Alarm bells are ringing after the shocking loss in the series opener and Australia might not want to leave any stone unturned to level the series in the second Test.
Australia squad for 2nd Test vs India: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Scott Boland
