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Lehmann closes in on first Test XI

Marsh brothers firming for start in Pune but jury still out on Renshaw or Khawaja

Australia coach and national selector Darren Lehmann has given the strongest indication yet that the Marsh brothers Shaun and Mitchell are set to return to the starting line-up for this week's first Test against India in Pune.

And Lehmann has also flagged that Usman Khawaja, the incumbent Test number three who was left out of the XI for the recently completed tour match against India A in Mumbai, might return in the role as David Warner's opening partner.

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Australia completed their competitive preparation for the first match of the four Test Qantas Tour of India by playing out a drawn match in which most specialist batters (except Khawaja) were granted the chance to spend time in the middle.

However, Warner's current Test opening partner Matthew Renshaw – the youngest member of Australia's 16-man squad and least experienced in Asian conditions – was not able to spend as long in the middle as he would have hoped.

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The 20-year-old, who scored a career-high 184 in his most recent Test innings against Pakistan in Sydney last month, was dismissed for 11 (from 41 balls faced) and 10 (off seven) in his two turns at the top of the order in Mumbai.

His tenure as Warner's opening partner has been a subject of discussion since Lehmann, when interviewed during the Sydney Test, declined to guarantee the  left-hander a start in the opening Test against India.

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"At the moment you would say he (Renshaw) would play but we have to sum up what the conditions are like, what the pitches will be like, how we'll play," Lehmann said in the wake of Renshaw's maiden Test ton.

Speaking in Mumbai after the tour match which he rated as "largely" a good pre-Test hit-out for his team, Lehmann noted that it was going to be a tight call between Renshaw and Khawaja for a place in the XI that takes the field at Pune.

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And with the coach, who is also one of two members of the selection panel currently in India along with interim chair Trevor Hohns, also indicating that Steve Smith and Shaun Marsh would likely "float between three and four" in the Test batting order, Khawaja's place in the team seems likely to be as opener if he is retained.

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"He (Renshaw) missed out on (runs in) the tour game," Lehmann said today.

"But obviously we put him into this tour game, so it's a tight call between probably him and Usman, I would think.

"Shaun (Marsh) did very well, the way he batted again and got a hundred so he's in good form.

"We know that he knows the conditions well.

"Renshaw and Usman and Warner, they would open so I'd imagine that Smith and (Shaun) Marsh would float between three and four.

"We're pretty settled on what we want, but at end of the day we need to wait until we get there (Pune) and see the wicket."

The number five berth will remain with Peter Handscomb who currently boasts a remarkable Test batting average of 99.75 (with two centuries) after just four matches.

And the troublesome number six position that was filled by Mitchell Marsh, Callum Ferguson, Nic Maddinson and Hilton Cartwright during a turbulent six-Test home summer looks set to return to Marsh.

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On the strength of his batting prowess in Asian conditions plus his ability to gain reverse swing with his seam bowling, which Lehmann sees as vital in the battle against the world's top-ranked Test team who have remained undefeated on home soil since 2012.

Marsh averages 32.70 from his 10 Test innings on Asian soil since making his Test debut against Pakistan in the UAE in 2014, which exceeds his overall Test batting average of 23.18 from 19 matches.

"He batted really well for us in Sri Lanka (last year) to be fair, he was one of our better batters," Lehmann said of Mitch Marsh who scored a patient 75 from 159  balls in the tour match and claimed 1-45 from 13 overs with the ball.

"So his subcontinent record's pretty good, he got runs in Dubai when he first toured there and he got runs in Sri Lanka.

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"He would have loved a big score but we've been impressed with way he plays spin bowling.

"Reverse swing will play its part here, definitely.

"The pitches wear quickly, so it's a lot easier to get reverse swing here than most other places.

"That will be a very big part, and obviously (Josh) Hazlewood and (Mitchell) Starc are very good at it, so is Marsh.

"So we're happy with that."

Warner backs Lyon, Renshaw after tour match

Which only leaves the spin bowling berths up for grabs, and given they shared more than half of the 91.5 overs Australia sent down in the tour match, it's clear that off-spinner Nathan Lyon and left-arm orthodox Steve O'Keefe are inked in.

Lyon attracted some stern critiques from both Lehmann and Smith during last year's 0-3 series loss in Sri Lanka, with claims his high action and overspin he imparts on the ball weren't well suited to Asian pitches.

But the 29-year-old, Australia's most successful finger spinner with 228 wickets from 63 Tests, has been working to employ more 'side' spin and slide the ball on to batters more regularly.

Changes to his technique that he worked on at the conclusion of the home Test series last month and during the pre-Test training camp the Australia squad held in Dubai immediately prior to landing in India.

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"He (Lyon) obviously went to Dubai early, he's made changes and they've been good changes," Lehmann said today.

"They (India's batters) will certainly take him on at various stages, but for us – and for him – it's to come up with a plan to negate that and make sure that he's bowling good enough balls to get wickets.

"He certainly bowled very well (last Saturday) evening, when he bowled a couple of good balls to get wickets at bat-pad etcetera.

"So I'm pleased with the way the spinners are going.

"It's going to be a challenge bowling here, but they're on the right path."

Australia's likely first Test XI: David Warner, Matthew Renshaw/Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Steve Smith (c), Peter Handscomb, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade, Steve O'Keefe, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.