Questions remain unanswered in 2019

As a large portion of Australia's population woke up this morning trying to piece together the events of the night before, the national cricket team had their own puzzle that required solving. 

Australia began the new year with an optional training session at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where the Domain series hosts hope to settle on a batting line-up before mounting a charge to win the final Test against Virat Kohli's India. 

Seven members of the 14-man squad – Tim Paine, Nathan Lyon, Usman Khawaja, Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Peter Handscomb and Marnus Labuschagne – trained under brilliant Sydney sunshine in the morning as the nation steadily rose after seeing in 2019. 

Those not in attendance were Marsh brothers Shaun and Mitch, batsman Travis Head and the pace quartet of Mitch Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Peter Siddle, who was flying in today after his player-of-the-match performance in last night's KFC BBL win in Adelaide.

Lyon and a handful of support staff were the first to arrive and headed straight out to the centre of the iconic venue. 

As more players filed in, the pitch was treated like a new-born child; it was poked, prodded and patted, with some left scratching their heads unsure of what they'd seen while others pondered what the future might hold for it.  

After a light warm-up, the players hit the nets, where Labuschagne was at his animated best dueling Queensland teammate Khawaja with his leg-spinners against the left-hander's willow.

Labuschagne was added to the Test squad after the 137-run loss in Melbourne and looms as the key piece in Australia's batting-order jigsaw for the fourth Domain Test, which Australia must win to square the series and deny India a maiden series win on these shores.

Finch was on deck taking slips catches but interestingly did not bat in the nets against several Blues bowlers featuring the likes of Trent Copeland and Mickey Edwards. 

The Victorian's place in the side has come under fire after a lean series with the bat, with former Test captains Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting dropping the right-hander in their predictive XIs for the match.

The SCG wicket is expected to spin, which could see Labuschagne come in for Finch or allrounder Marsh as a second spinning option and fifth bowler. 

Marsh bowled 26 tight overs in Melbourne but mustered scores of 9 and 10 with the bat to put his place under the spotlight. His absence at training was notable, but that's not to say his card has already been marked; Head opted not to train and he is a lock for the SCG clash.

An unchanged line-up is still a possibility, with Finch shifting down to the middle order where he calls home at first-class level, and those ahead of him moving up one spot. 

But given the way the batting unit has performed this summer, change is expected. 

National selector Greg Chappell observed training from the comfort of shade on the outskirts of the practice facility but did venture out under the sun to have a brief exchange with Labuschagne as he entered the nets for a bat. 

Whether that chat was about selection, a piece of advice or the swapping of new year's resolutions, we may never know. 

What this all boils down to is that the XI appears not set in stone two days out.

As the players warmed up, Chappell and coach Justin Langer strolled the perimeter of the playing field in deep discussion.

It's unlikely they spent too much time swapping stories of how they saw in the new year. More plausible topics would include the state of the pitch and which combination will give them the best chance to win.

What that exactly looks like remains to be seen.  

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Australia won by 146 runs

Dec 26-30: India won by 137 runs

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar