Australia v India: Uncapped Nathan McSweeney to open in first Test at Perth

Nathan McSweeney will open the batting on his debut for Australia in the first Test against India at Perth.

The 25-year-old opened for the first time in first-class cricket during the recent match against India A and made scores of 14 and 25.

McSweeney will open alongside experienced batter Usman Khawaja, while uncapped Josh Inglis is also included in the 13-player squad.

The first Test starts on 22 November and is followed by matches in Adelaide and Brisbane, the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and the New Year’s Test in Sydney.

McSweeney has a first-class average of 38.16 with six centuries, and is preferred to previous openers Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft as Australia seek a consistent replacement for the retired David Warner.

Former captain Steve Smith had a brief stint as opener at the beginning of the year but has since moved back to his preferred position at number four, with Marnus Labuschagne at three.

Captain Pat Cummins leads the formidable bowling attack with left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc, fellow seamers Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland, and off-spinner Nathan Lyon.

India have won the past four Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Australia squad for first Test v India:

Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc.