Aussies name XI for tour match

Matt Renshaw is firming in his bid to open alongside David Warner during Australia's four-Test series against India.

Renshaw is set to open the batting in Australia's three-day tour game against India A, which starts in Mumbai on Friday.

Australia's XI for tour game against India A: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Mitch Marsh, Matthew Wade, Glenn Maxwell, Steve O'Keefe, Jackson Bird, Nathan Lyon.

The 20-year-old has also been batting in the nets with Warner at training, with the expectation being he will do the same when the first Test starts in Pune on Thursday.

There had been speculation, fuelled partly by comments from coach Darren Lehmann last month, that Renshaw could be dropped in favour of Shaun Marsh, who scored a century in Australia's most recent Test on the subcontinent against Sri Lanka in August.

Marsh, who is likely to bat in the top order during the first-class match at Brabourne Stadium, is still in the mix to play the series opener.

The 33-year-old could claim Usman Khawaja's place in the top order, or snaffle the vacant No.6 spot.

The XI selected by Trevor Hohns and Lehmann however is not the likely side for the first Test; pace spearheads Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood were both rested.

However, Khawaja is notably the only specialist batsman in Australia's 16-man touring party to sit out their only tune-up before the first Test.

Marsh was one of few players to enhance their subcontinent reputations during a 0-3 series loss in Sri Lanka last year, scoring 130 in Colombo. Khawaja was dropped during that same tour.

Glenn Maxwell and Mitch Marsh will both play the tour game against India A, giving the allrounders an ideal chance to build an impressive case for a Test recall.

Maxwell and Marsh are both gunning for the No.6 spot, with the omission of Hilton Cartwright the only confirmed change to the Test side at this stage.

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As expected, frontline spinners Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe will given a chance to bowl long spells in Mumbai.

The tour match gets underway at 9.30am local time (3pm AEDT) on Friday.

Test Squads

Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade 

India (for first two Tests): Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandaran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya.

Australia's schedule in India

Feb 17-19, Tour match v India A, Mumbai

Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune

Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru

Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi

Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala