Days before the all-important Boxing Day Test which will be played between India and Australia, the latter has added a 15th member to their squad. Archie Schiller, a seven-year-old has been confirmed to be the part of the extended squad of the home team.
Archie was delivered the happy news on the day he turned seven, at the BUPA Family Day at the Yarra Park.
The leggie will be co-captaining alongside Tim Paine.
Earlier this month the Australian coach Justin Langer informed Archie the good news over a phone call, at the time when the squad was playing against Pakistan in the UAE.
When Archie was just three months old, he had to go through a surgery which lasted more than seven hours. Months later he had to fight another battle as the doctors operated to fix the irregular rhythms of the boy’s heart.
Last year, the third surgical procedure took place, but Archie beat it too.
Meet the newest member of the Australian Test team: https://t.co/vmcqkK0tqE @MakeAWishAust | #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/0EMBSu4yEm
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 23, 2018
“Obviously Arch has been through a really tough period and his family, When his dad asked him what he wanted to do, he said ‘I want to captain Australia’ “, said Australian captain Tim Paine.
Make-A-Wish Australia learned Archie’s situation and his desires.
Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Archie Schiller
India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
