Brisbane, Feb 8: Pakistan-born Usman Khawaja has been included in an 18-man squad for Australia’s first test tour to Pakistan since 1998, and its first in four years without Justin Langer as head coach.
The squad was confirmed three days after Langer announced he’d rejected a six-month contract extension offered by Cricket Australia and quit, a decision that left Andrew McDonald as interim coach.
Test captain Pat Cummins has been criticized by some high-profile former players including Ricky Ponting for not giving his full backing to Langer in the days leading up to the contract discussions.
Cummins will lead the squad later this month to Pakistan for a three-test series starting March 4 at Rawalpindi.
The Australian starting lineup that finished off the 4-0 Ashes series victory over England last month with a win in Hobart has been retained.
Opener Marcus Harris, who made way for Khawaja’s return for Australia late in the Ashes series, has been included in the squad.
Josh Hazlewood, who missed four of the five Ashes tests because of injury, also has returned to a pace bowling group that includes Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Michael Neser and allrounder Cameron Green. Ashton Agar and Mitchell Swepson have been added as spin options to support Nathan Lyon. (AP)
