Warne urges Oz to play two spinners against India in Hyderabad Test

Sydney: Spin king Shane Warne has urged Australian captain Michael Clarke and selectors to pick two spinners for the second Test against India in Hyderabad following their Chennai Test mauling.

Debate over the selection of Australia`s second Test team is growing louder as the visitors lick their wounds after their heavy eight-wicket defeat in Chennai. Warne said if the best spinning option is to add Xavier Doherty in the Australian team alongside Nathan Lyon then the selectors must do that. Warne had earlier talked at length with captain Clarke about the composition of the Australian Test team. Australia is being widely pilloried for relying on pace in its first Test failure, in which Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin routed the visitors with 12 wickets, but the spin-bowling options lack credentials. Warne`s choice Doherty took just two first-class wickets in two matches this summer, at an average of 80, and he took 3-108 off 24 overs against India A in a tour match. An accomplished one-day tweaker, Doherty has taken three wickets in two Tests at an average of 108, being jettisoned after taking 1-158 off 27 overs against England in Adelaide in 2010. His overall first-class record is 122 wickets from 52 games at 44.56. All-rounder Steve Smith, a shock selection in the Test squad, has taken three Test wickets in five matches at 73, and has become more of a part-time bowler since his last Test in January 2011. Inexperienced Victorian off-spinning all-rounder Glenn Maxwell seems to have stronger claims, having taken his 27 first-class wickets at 33, but his bowling has tended to play second fiddle to his batting, especially in short-form cricket, and he averages 42 from his 24 first-class knocks. ANI