Selectors have fought the urge to throw all the batsmen out with the bath water, but Aaron Finch will certainly make way for Marnus Labuschagne, and Peter Handscomb will also come in for tomorrow’s SCG Test.
Usman Khawaja will be promoted from No.3 to open the batting with Marcus Harris.
Australia have not officially announced their side night but The Australian understands these two changes have been made.
Trailing in the series and with half an eye on the Ashes, the selectors have agonised over what to do with only two Tests between this one and the first game of the Ashes in mid year.
Labuschagne, who played two Tests in the UAE, may even bat at first drop, which is where he does for Queensland.
There had been hope new players would nail down roles in the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner, but the reality has been sobering for most.
Mitchell Marsh failed to make runs or take wickets when he replaced Handscomb at the MCG, but his bowling was valuable and economical, taking a weight off the seamers.
Handscomb comes back despite failing in the first two Tests, but the team has faith in his ability to play spin, rating him as one of the best in the country at that particular skill.
India were playing games with everybody today, announcing before Virat Kohli’s press conference that Ravi Ashwin was not fit enough to return to the team. Two hours after the captain lamented his absence team management named a 13-man squad that included the spinner.
One permanent absentee is veteran quick Ishant Sharma, who has a side strain and is being rested.
India are keen to play two spinners on the SCG and could include either Ashwin or left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav to keep Ravi Jadeja company in the slow bowling corner. India also have Hanuma Vihari, who has proved a handy slow bowler.
Perhaps the visitors were swayed to change their mind by the reaction of Tim Paine when he was informed by journalists that Ashwin was out.
“That’s good news,” he said. “Saw him bowl yesterday and he was batting in Melbourne, so I’m surprised he’s not playing. I think conditions here would have suited him here really nicely.
“Normally it spins quite a bit and with his height he would’ve been a handful, so I think some of our batters will be pretty happy to hear that news.
“But we know they’ve got some other spinners in their squad, Kuldeep is younger but got some serious talent and Jadeja did the job for them in Melbourne.”
Paine says the selection discussion has been complicated by the knowledge of bedding down a side for the Ashes. That prospect made it difficult for Finch to continue at the top of the order as he is considered flawed against a moving ball.
“Obviously we want to pick the best XI that we think can win this Test,” Paine said. “At the same time you’re trying to look forward a little bit and make sure you have the right guys around the squad and in our group who we think can be successful across different conditions in Test cricket.
“There’s always going to be a little bit of a balancing act — I know I’ve probably answered it in two different ways and a lot of people who are critical of selection processes won’t like that, but they’re just the plain facts. That’s what it is. We want to pick the best team.
“You always got to have a little bit of an eye to the future and what’s coming up at the same time.”
Paine defended the form of Mitch Marsh, who has averaged below 20 since the Ashes, saying he has struggled coming in without Steve Smith or David Warner at the top of the order.
Kohli, meanwhile, was content to be sitting 2-1 and on the verge of a historic series victory in Australia, saying the visitors were in a good place after a win at the MCG.
“It has just solidified the belief we had as a team much more,” he said. “I think wins like MCG and Adelaide only make you feel, as a team, that you’re heading in the right direction.
“You will obviously make mistakes and have things that you improve on or correct, but you can’t change your personality or your character as a team.
“When that comes through you understand that against all odds you stuck together as a side, and eventually you start getting your results and you start believing in yourselves. You see guys growing in their confidence levels and that is a beautiful sight.
“These kind of victories evolve you as a cricketer and as a person as well. That can only happen when you have total belief in what you want to do, rather than following someone else’s opinions.
“As a side, it gave us a lot of belief that we were heading in the right direction always and that we were very close, we just had to understand our mistakes and correct them at the right times.
“Not that we were not willing to correct them, but the timing wasn’t right. It just gives us confidence to keep doing these things more often and not stop them.”
