Mitchell Swepson confirmed to debut in second Test : Report

Karachi : Australian Test skipper Pat Cummins on Friday confirmed that leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson will make his Test debut against Pakistan when the second match of the series gets under way at the National Stadium on Saturday.The 28-year-old Swepson will come in into Australia’s side in place of pace bowler Josh Hazlewood, cricket.com.au said on Friday.”With the surface in Karachi expected to favour spin over pace, Swepson comes in for his first Test match, with Hazlewood the man to miss out,” the report said.The opening Test at Rawalpindi had ended in a dull draw with the pitch for the historic game receiving a ‘below average’ rating from ICC Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle.Ranjan Madugalle rated the pitch at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi as “below average”, resulting in the venue receiving one demerit point under the ICC Pitch and Outfield Monitoring Process.

In his report, Madugalle said: “The character of the pitch hardly changed over the course of five days and that there has been no deterioration apart from the bounce getting slightly lower. The pitch did not have a great deal of pace and bounce in it for the seamers nor assisted the spinners as the match progressed. In my view this does not represent an even contest between bat and ball. Therefore, in keeping with the ICC guidelines I rate this pitch as below average.”But with the pitch at the National Stadium in Karachi likely to favour spin, Swepson’s inclusion doesn’t come as a surprise.Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood.
Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner. On standby: Sean Abbott, Brendan Doggett, Nic Maddinson, Matthew Renshaw.