Solving Australia's top-order puzzle

After arriving in South Africa on Monday morning (AEDT), one of Australia's first jobs will be to solve the top-order batting conundrum they face ahead of Friday's opening T20 against the Proteas.

In Australia's 15-man touring party, four specialist openers have been selected: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Shane Watson and Aaron Finch.

Quick Single: Smith wants Proteas to produce spinning decks

Throw in captain Steve Smith and there are five men fighting for what's likely only four positions, with a throng of allrounders set to occupy places further down the order, likely starting at No.5 with livewire Glenn Maxwell.

The five contenders have never played in the same T20 side, but when four of them, sans Khawaja, suited up for the first KFC T20 INTL against India a month ago, Warner partnered Finch at the top, with Smith entering at first-drop and Watson coming in at No.6 behind rookies Travis Head and Chris Lynn.

But a lot has changed in the two matches since.

Warner and Smith flew to New Zealand early for the Chappell-Hadlee ODI series, missing the final two matches of the series.

Finch, after scoring 44 in game one, injured his hamstring when he was run out for 74 in the second match on his home turf at the MCG and has not padded up in competitive cricket since.

Watson, who replaced Finch not only as Australia's opening batsman but captain as well for the final fixture in Sydney, scored an unbeaten 124 – the first T20 international century Down Under.

And Khawaja has been in the hottest form of his life, leading the Sydney Thunder to the KFC Big Bash League title with two centuries in four matches, despite missing out in his maiden T20 appearance alongside Watson at the SCG.

It all adds up to a pleasant problem for the skipper, albeit one Smith doesn't have an answer for yet.

"I'm not really sure of the makeup of our top three or four just yet," Smith told reporters on his departure from Sydney to Durban, home of Friday's first T20.

"There's a lot of guys who can fill those positions.

"We've got three games to get a look at that before the (T20) World Cup."

News Limited is reporting Warner, Australia's stalwart at the top of the order in all three formats, is set to slip down the line-up to accommodate the Watson-Khawaja combo, leaving skipper Smith to float between positions No.3 and No.4.

That would leave Finch as the odd man out, but given he is officially the world's No.1 ranked T20I batsman, it would be a big call to drop the former captain who says he is fully recovered from that hamstring trouble.

While Warner's shuffle would be a first for the 29-year-old – he has opened in every one of his 54 innings for Australia in T20 cricket – he has batted in the middle order for his Indian Premier League franchise, Sunrisers Hyderabad, in the past.

In IPL 2014, with Aaron Finch and Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order, Warner spent 11 of his 14 innings in the middle order, excelling at No.4 with scores of 65, 61, 55no, 44 and 34, highlighting his versatility in the process. 

Khawaja could easily slot in at No.3, given his proficiency in the position at Test level. And such is the nature of the role and format, it would hardly be surprising if Khawaja, who dominated for the Thunder opening the innings, found himself batting in the first over should an early wicket fall.

As for Watson, the numbers suggest he must open the batting if Australia are to get the best out of their veteran allrounder.

Watson averages 35 opening in T20 internationals, compared to just 15.2 from positions No.3-6.

Smith says "it's possible" Australia could trial different opening combinations in the three-match T20 tour against the Proteas, which heads back to Johannesburg following Friday's encounter before finishing in Cape Town on March 9.

"We've got some very talented and destructive batters up the top of the order we can choose from," Smith said.

"I guess we'll wait and see what our best combination is."

Australia's World T20 squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Nevill, Andrew Tye, Shane Watson, Adam Zampa.