Australia A Players Auditioning For Border-Gavaskar Trophy vs India A

Peter Handscomb will captain Australia A vs India A [Source: AFP]

Australia A’s tour of India will commence on September 22 at the Siechem Ground in Puducherry. Just months away from the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the teams will test out the players on the periphery of the Test squads in two unofficial Tests.

Australia is an ageing Test team, with only three of their 15 squad members touring South Africa aged under 30. Secondly, some players are past their best and might find it tough to stay in the roster after the high-profile tour, and lastly, Indian conditions would require a specific skill set and team combination for the Aussies to win the series.

All things considered, there will be changes in Australia’s Test squad when they tour India in January to March. Hence, here is a brief look at the Australia A players who are auditioning for a place in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

1. Corey Rocchiccioli

• Diving right into the spin-bowling unit, Corey Rocchiccioli is a name doing rounds in Australia for some time now.
• The 29-year-old off-break bowler is tipped as a prime candidate to succeed Nathan Lyon in Tests. The veteran is approaching 39 and is in the final stretch of his international career; the tour to India could well be his last.
• Rocchiccioli is yet to make his Test debut, but is among the seasoned FC bowlers who could challenge for the spot. After playing 52 FC games, he has 179 wickets to his name, including 8 wickets in CA XI’s clash against Bangladesh.
• Beyond the raw numbers, he plays his Sheffield Shield for Western Australia at the WACA, which is a fast bowlers’ paradise. Hence, his bowling average can be termed very good, and he could make his way to the Test squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

(Corey Rocchiccioli's FC stats)

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A pace paradise for decades, Corey Rocchiccioli has turned the WACA into his own spin haven #SheffieldShield

Mar 17, 2024, 7:05 AM

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2. Todd Murphy

• Rocchiccioli is in direct competition with Todd Murphy to become Australia’s lead off-spinner after Nathan Lyon. Murphy has a slight edge over the senior pro as he has already made his international debut and picked a five-wicket haul on debut in Nagpur.
• Murphy has only appeared for Australia sporadically between 2023 and 2025, but he has been picked in the squad over his contemporaries, especially in Lyon’s absence.
• In his 7-match Test career, he has fared decently, picking 22 wickets at an average of 28.13, and if he manages to trouble India A over the two matches, he could well be in the squad alongside Lyon for the tour in January.

(Todd Murphy's Test and FC stats)

3. Peter Handscomb

• Peter Handscomb is 35 and has not played any Tests since the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India in 2023. Nonetheless, he has been named as their captain for the two four-day matches.
• Handscomb is considered a spin specialist and has played over 800 balls in the last two tours of India and could be a good option in the middle order.
• Australia have been playing Cameron Green and Beau Webster both in the playing XI, so one of the spots is likely to open up at number 5 or 6.
• Lastly, Handscomb scored 693 and 724 runs in the last two seasons of the Sheffield Shield. He was also the leading run-getter in the 2025/26 season, which is a massive positive for the right-hand batter.

(Peter Handscomb's Sheffield Shield stats since 2024/25)

4. Nathan McSweeney

• Nathan McSweeney is usually Australia A’s captain in red-ball cricket. But the board and the player are now looking for him to focus more on his batting.
• At 27, the South Australian can be a part of a long-term plan, and since he was dropped from the team, he has been in some good form across his stints in Shield cricket and County Cricket.
• Marnus Labuschagne’s form has been in serious decline for a while, having last scored a Test century back in July 2023. So, in case his South Africa series doesn’t go as he would expect, he could make way for McSweeney if the latter succeeds in replicating his red-ball form against India A.

(Nathan McSweeney in red-ball cricket since being dropped from Tests)

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