Labuschagne, Khawaja set to start India series preparation with Queensland

Australia’s top-order batters Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja will start their preparation for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy next week after being named in Queensland’s squad for the first-round fixture against Western Australia in Perth, starting October 8.

Queensland have named a 13-member squad and the group will be led by Labuschagne. 

Khawaja and Labuschagne, however, are not the only Test hopefuls that will be playing in the contest. Michael Neser and Matthew Renshaw, who have both been with the Australian squad in the past 18 months, will also be partaking in the clash and will be looking to leave a strong impression ahead of the five-Test series against India.

Notably, this time around, Khawaja will be opening the batting for Queensland. Despite being an opener for the national side, Khawaja has spent the best part of the last three seasons batting at No.4 for his state side. However, the 37-year-old will get a chance to warm up nicely ahead of the India series in his actual batting position.

Meanwhile, ESPNcricinfo have reported that Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will not be playing New South Wales’ clash against South Australia and will be rested. According to the same report, it seems likely that both Travis Head & Alex Carey will feature for South Australia in the first round. Both players were part of the white-ball tour of England.

If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out on our content — big time. Download the App here.