David Hussey in line for Twenty20 debut

David and Michael Hussey could become the first brothers to play for Australia together since the Waughs after they were picked for the Twenty20 international against India at the MCG on Friday. Ricky Ponting is ready after suffering a back injury in the fourth Test in Adelaide and the selectors have looked to the future by appointing Clarke, who led the team against New Zealand last month, as the deputy.

"Michael has been named his vice-captain for this match and we see this as an important step in continuing to develop his leadership skills," Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said. Matthew Hayden has been rested to give his injured right thigh time to heal before the start of the CB Series on Sunday and Mitchell Johnson also has a game off. The one-day squad will be announced on Thursday.

David Hussey is on track to make his national debut after convincing the selectors of his high quality with consistent domestic seasons for Victoria and Nottinghamshire. Hilditch has pin-pointed him as a contender for the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup and he joins Brad Hodge, Adam Voges and James Hopes as fresher faces in the 13-man squad.

"This is recognition of David's outstanding form over the last few seasons, particularly in the KFC Twenty20," Hilditch said. He was in devastating touch for Victoria in their third Twenty20 tournament win, finishing the series as the second highest run-scorer with 237 in six matches at a strike-rate of 153.89. This season he also has two half-centuries in the FR Cup and 643 runs at 64.30 in Pura Cup matches, including two hundreds and five fifties.

Hussey was not expecting to be included when he heard the news on Monday night. He hopes to use the format as a stepping stone towards ODI and Test representation, although his immediate goals are small. "I just want to get one run," he said. "That's the big talk in the Victorian team, to always get off the mark, and then hopefully we get a win."

He is also looking forward to being in the same team as Michael again. "He's a good friend of mine, not only my brother, and he's such a fantastic player to watch," he said. "I'm also excited to play with Ricky Ponting, the world's best batsman, and Adam Gilchrist, who has revolutionised the game."

The decision of Shaun Tait to take a break has led to Ashley Noffke holding his place after he debuted with three wickets against New Zealand while Ben Hilfenhaus is back after not being required for the Chappell-Hadlee Series. Stuart Clark has been cut from the attack that is led by Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken.

Cricket Australia is expecting a crowd of up to 90,000 and only 2000 reserved seats remain for the game. The general admission tickets are already sold out for the day, which starts with a Twenty20 women's match between Australia and England.

Australia squad Michael Clarke, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt), Brad Hodge, Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Adam Voges, James Hopes, Brett Lee, Ashley Noffke, Nathan Bracken, Ben Hilfenhaus.