 "IND vs AUS 2022-23: Desperate Australia's surprise call-up Matt Kuhnemann excited to be part of Test squad")
synopsis
Queensland spinner Matt Kuhnemann has been called into the Test squad and keenly watched Ravindra Jadeja's performance in the first Test between India and Australia at Nagpur.
After a shock defeat against hosts India in the first Test at Nagpur, a desperate Australian side has called uncapped left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann into the Test squad ahead of the second game in New Delhi, with his Queensland teammate Mitchell Swepson heading home for the birth of his first child.
Swepson will now fly back to Brisbane to be with his expecting fiancée, Jess, after being passed over for the first Test, which India won by an innings and 132 runs. Ashton Agar, a left-arm spinner, was also left out for the clash at Nagpur.
Kuhnemann is on his way to New Delhi and will likely team up with Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy if a different turning pitch materialises.
The 26-year-old from the Gold Coast watched from his hotel room in Melbourne after the play in the Bulls' Sheffield Shield match ended on Sunday as fellow left-arm orthodox spinner Ravindra Jadeja mesmerised Australia during the first Test.
"He's a live chance to play in the next Test match," Australia coach Andrew McDonald told reporters on Sunday. "If we play three spinners then we clearly want back-up here and available in the squad if that's the way we want to go. That's why we've got four spinners in the squad."
During Australia's winter tour of Sri Lanka, Kuhnemann made his limited-overs debut unexpectedly. He took 2-55 off 21 overs and 1-67 off 23 overs at the MCG.
"I got a phone call yesterday morning when we were walking out for the warm-up, to my surprise. I was pretty shocked and I was probably a little bit nowhere in the first session yesterday," Kuhnemann said after the Bulls' 164-run defeat to Victoria.
"But it was a pretty amazing feeling and it's pretty cool to tell the boys as well at the warm-ups. I've watched every day (of the first Test), I've just been such a fan of these series, they're so good to watch. Todd Murphy was exceptional, and I watched how Jadeja bowled. I'm just really excited to be to get over there and be with the boys," the left-arm spinner added.
Murphy set records on his debut at the VCA Stadium, but McDonald acknowledged that the team's thinkers are worried that Lyon and Murphy, both right-arm off-spinners, are too similar.
"The question for us was, is it too similar with two spinners operating in tandem spinning the ball? Did we use enough angles over and around at certain times?" said the Australian coach.
"I thought Todd Murphy - we talk about all the negatives out of the game – but I thought that was a huge positive for us as a team. It gives us a different look at some potential structures for the next team," he concluded.
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