Stoinis, Maxwell vying for Test berth

The race for the vacant No.6 spot in Australia’s third Test XI is down to two Victorian allrounders in Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis, according to captain Steve Smith.

Maxwell and Stoinis are vying for Mitchell Marsh’s position at fourth-drop after the Western Australian was ruled out of the final two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in the wake of the tourists' 75-run loss in Bengaluru.

Despite Marsh bowling just five overs in the first two matches of the series, which could perhaps be due to the shoulder injury that forced him home, Smith said it’s “nice to have the option” of a fifth bowler on the subcontinent.

Which has effectively ruled out the squad’s sole reserve specialist batsman Usman Khawaja from returning to the final XI for the third Test in Ranchi, starting Thursday.

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“We’re going to have a look at the wicket today, see if there’s any changes there,” said Smith, who confirmed the team will be announced at the toss.

“We’ve got a few options here. Maxwell and Stoinis are obviously different allrounders.

“We’ll look at whether we need a bit more pace or another spinning option.”

Maxwell is the likely candidate to replace Marsh given his experience in India and Stoinis’ whirlwind call-up to the Test squad.

Stoinis landed in Ranchi on Monday night fresh from Victoria’s eight-wicket Sheffield Shield win over Western Australia in Alice Springs that concluded on Saturday.

It means the uncapped 27-year-old has only two full days to acclimatise to subcontinental conditions and the time zone before the third Test, a tough ask for even modern day jet-setting cricketers.

The Qantas Tour of India is Maxwell’s 12th trip to India, a familiar country where he made his Test debut in 2013 and has starred for various Indian Premier League franchises.

His ability to reverse-sweep and bowl part-time off-spin makes him a solid option for the National Selection Panel, who must also decide on a replacement for injured fast-bowler Mitchell Starc.

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Scans last Friday revealed a fracture in Starc’s right foot, forcing the left-armer out of the series and a stint on the sidelines.

The NSP said they needed a strike bowler to replace Starc and called up NSW Blues quick Patrick Cummins to the squad after he completed his first Shield match in six years last week.

It appears Cummins, a tearaway quick capable of reaching speeds of 150kph, could leapfrog the touring party’s back-up specialist seamer Jackson Bird and make his second Test appearance, more than five years after his debut in November, 2011.

While Smith doesn’t expect the pitch to offer any extra bounce, he says it’s nice to have an express pace option up his sleeve on slow, low wickets.

In addition to raw speed, Cummins also possesses a deceptive slower ball that’s been crafted for limited-overs cricket but could prove handy if 23-year-old is selected.

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“I think (Cummins) has got some good variations,” Smith said. “Watching him bowl yesterday he bowled these cutters on the wicket and they were actually ragging (spinning).

“He’s got some good skills there as well.

“The extra pace is always nice on there.”

Possible Australia XI: David Warner, Matt Renshaw, Steve Smith (c), Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Stephen O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

Test Squads

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

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

Australia's schedule in India

Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune - Australia won by 333 runs.

Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru - India won by 75 runs.

Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi

Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala