AUS vs IND: Beau Webster added to Australian squad for 2nd Test

The second Test between Australia and India is set to be played at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide, starting on Friday, December 6. After losing the first Test by 295 runs in Perth, Australia has bolstered its squad by adding Tasmanian all-rounder Beau Webster.

The 30-year-old, who received his maiden Test call-up, will join the squad in Adelaide next week. He was named the Sheffield Shield Player of the Year last summer and has extended his purple patch this season. Webster has been added to the side as a backup for Mitchell Marsh, who suffered minor injuries during the Perth encounter.

“(Marsh) He has been battling a couple of little niggles since the UK tour,” Australian captain Pat Cummins had said after the defeat in the first Test.

“He was a little sore towards the end of this Test match (Perth), so the next 10 days he has a chance to freshen up and try to get it right. We’ll see how he goes,” he added.

If Marsh fails to recover in time for the second Test, Webster might get the opportunity to make his international debut. Having scored 1,788 runs in the last two seasons of the Sheffield Shield, Webster will be high on confidence and raring to have a crack at the highest level of the game. He has also registered five tons and nine half-centuries, showing his exemplary skills with the bat in red-ball cricket.

Webster recently showed his all-round prowess during the Tasmania versus New South Wales fixture in the Sheffield Shield. He scored 61 and 49 in the two innings with the bat and also picked up five wickets.

Meanwhile, Jack Nisbett has been brought in to replace Jem Ryan, who sustained a foot injury at the weekend, in the Prime Minister’s XI to play India in Canberra this weekend.