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SYDNEY, Sept 23: Brad Hodge will replace Ricky Ponting on Australia's cricket tour of India while the captain recovers from a broken thumb.
Cricket Australia said on Thursday that Hodge, an uncapped Victoria state batsman, had been added to the squad after Ponting was ordered home from England for possible surgery.
It was also announced that vice-captain Adam Gilchrist would skipper the side in Ponting's absence.
"We were looking at a specialist batsman to come into the squad for Ricky and given Brad's consistency and his skills against spin bowling, he was the clear choice," Australia's chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said in a statement. -Reuters
