Australia look set to decide between handing Josh Inglis his Test debut or recalling Nathan McSweeney for the series opener against Sri Lanka, as Sam Konstas's spot hangs by a thread.
Selectors opened a vacancy in the middle order by deciding Travis Head would shift from No.5 to replace recent debutant Konstas at the top for the Test beginning in Galle on Wednesday.
Teenage batting sensation Konstas impressed in his first two Tests to help Australia reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade.
But Head's supreme efforts as an opener on the previous subcontinent tour in 2023 were enough to win him the spot next to Usman Khawaja for the first of two matches - at Konstas's expense.
Head averaged 55.75 runs across two-and-a-half Tests replacing David Warner on that India tour, two years ago.
"He did really nicely in India against the new ball. He put spinners under pressure immediately and we know how well he hits the seam as well if they come with that," said stand-in captain Steve Smith.
"It's going to be good fun watching him."
Smith would not rule out Konstas remaining in the middle order, but to keep his spot in the XI the young NSW star will have to compete with the more experienced duo of McSweeney and Inglis.
English-born Inglis is uncapped at Test level but is Australia's white-ball wicketkeeper and has long featured in national red-ball squads as understudy to gloveman Alex Carey.
There has previously been suggestions he could play as a specialist batter as he averaged 72.6 across three matches of Western Australia this summer.
Inglis would likely bring similar middle-order aggression and is experienced in Asian conditions; he replaced Carey as wicketkeeper in Australia's triumphant 2023 One Day International World Cup campaign in India.
"(Inglis) is quite comfortable where his game's at, he's been around a while, played a lot of cricket," Smith said.
"He provides really good skills against spin, he scores all around the ground.
"If he gets an opportunity, he'll do a really good job."
McSweeney averaged only 14.4 on a tough assignment in his first three Test matches, facing Indian pace ace Jasprit Bumrah out of position as an opener next to Khawaja.
But the South Australia captain has batted in the middle order in his 30 Sheffield Shield appearances and memorably made an unbeaten 127 earlier in the summer.
Uncapped 21-year-old Cooper Connolly appears the longest odds for the vacancy with only four first-class games to his name but is rated highly within the Cricket Australia hierarchy.
"We'll have another look at the wicket and from there we'll name the team at the toss," Smith said.
"We've got all the options available to us."
Konstas's inexperience appears to have worked against him in the selection conversation, with the 19-year-old embarking on his first subcontinent tour.
Smith said Australia had to keep the foreign conditions in mind.
"Just playing what's in front of us, it's quite different to back home on the surfaces we've been playing on there where it's very pace dominant," he said.
"We'd imagine this is going to be quite spin dominant."
Australia won't rule out taking two front-line quicks and two spinners rather than three tweakers, despite expectations of a dusty, turning wicket.
Scott Boland and Sean Abbott are both pace options but Smith is equally confident in pace and spin-bowling allrounder Beau Webster taking the new ball alongside veteran quick Mitch Starc.
"He stands the seam up really nicely, hits good areas. Whether it's him opening the bowling with Mitchell Starc or a spinner opening, there's always plenty of options there," Smith said.
"There's lots of considerations."
Left-arm offspinner Matthew Kuhnemann will be available for selection only two weeks after dislocating his thumb of his non-bowling hand in the Big Bash League.
