Swepson eyes lesson with King of Spin

Rain is the bane of every cricketer's existence, but Mitchell Swepson had good reason to feel particularly miffed about one of the many storms that struck hometown Brisbane this summer.

Swepson, the young leg-spinner included in Australia's touring party for the Qantas Tour of India, had lined up a one-on-one net session with Shane Warne during the first Test against Pakistan at the Gabba in December.

But the 23-year-old's audience with the spin king was scotched at the last minute because of heavy rain.

"It was pretty bad timing," Swepson reflected in Pune, where Australia begin their four-match series against the No.1 ranked Test side on Thursday.

"I was going to bowl in the nets with him during the Gabba Test when he was commentating there, but the arvo I was going to come in it rained and it got called off.

"I think it will happen sometime in the future, I have coaches who know him pretty well and can get in contact with him."

Quick Single: Smith reveals likely shift in order

Warne has been one of Swepson's biggest fans, actively pushing for the Queenslander to be included in the touring party for India.

The spin legend on Wednesday picked his hypothetical Australia XI for the first Test, selecting Swepson in a three-pronged spin attack with Nathan Lyon and Glenn Maxwell.

Swepson and Warne are likely to cross paths in Pune, where Warne is commentating during the first Test that starts at 3pm AEDT on Thursday.

"If he's coming over here I would love to meet him and pick his brain a bit and ask him a few questions," Swepson said.

Swepson isn't expected to feature in the XI that will attempt to end Australia's nine-Test losing streak in Asia.

However, his name featured in the deliberations between captain Steve Smith, coach Darren Lehmann and chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns, after the tourists were confronted with a dry Pune pitch.

And Smith noted he'd be content throwing the would-be debutant the ball on day one of the much-anticipated series.

"He bowled pretty impressively in the nets in Dubai. He's come a long way in the last couple of years, his control has improved a lot," Smith said.

"He gives the ball a good rip, he's got some nice variations with his seam position, slider and googly. He's been quite impressive."

Quick Single: Aussies in a spin over first Test pitch

Swepson suggested there was only one way of finding out if he's ready for Test cricket.

"I didn't think I was ready to play Shield cricket when I debuted and I didn't think I was ready to play the Big Bash when I debuted," he said.

"I don't think you ever know if you are ready until you actually go out and play.

"If the opportunity comes I will try and grab it with two hands."

Test Squads

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: 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

Australia's schedule in India

Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune

Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru

Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi

Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala