Australia v India first Test: Peter Handscomb and Marcus Harris in head-to-head battle for final spot

Justin Langer has confirmed every spot is locked in for the first Test - except for one - with a decision over the final batting role likely to come down to whether Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja stick as openers.

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Peter Handscomb and Marcus Harris are in a head-to-head shootout for the only vacant spot in Australia’s side for the first Test against India.

Australia coach Justin Langer confirmed every other member of his XI is locked in, and the only decision to be made is which Victorian plays next week at Adelaide Oval.

The theatre of the intriguing battle was laid bare at the Gabba on Wednesday, as Handscomb (53) and Harris (62) made classy half centuries in a partnership that, beneath the surface, was more like an Old Western showdown.

Marcus Harris reminded everyone of his talent with 62 against Queensland.

While the batting order would tweak depending on which Bushranger made the cut, Handscomb and Harris are the only question mark that remains for the coach.

At a gala dinner at the SCG on Wednesday night, Langer was inducted alongside his “brother” and long-term opening partner Matthew Hayden as the only ever dual honorees of the prestigious Bradman Foundation.

The previous night they caught up for a meal in Sydney, talked cricket, and Langer — for the first time in months — was able to relax and laugh.

When he gets back to business next week in Adelaide, Langer will consider Harris as an opener or a No.3, while Handscomb would help break up the overload of left-handers in the middle-order.

“I will always be transparent so I would say it is,” said Langer of his only selection conundrum.

“We need to work out whether we stick with the (opening) combination of Aaron Finch and Usman (Khawaja), who seemed to have this nice synergy about them and this really nice feel about it in the UAE.

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“They didn’t seem flustered. They’re two more senior players. For me as an ex-opener and as a coach, there was a nice feel about those two.

“Uzzy has done really well opening the batting, so do we change that position?

“If we decide to break it up, then Marcus Harris will probably play. If we decide to keep them together Marcus could bat three or Shaun Marsh bats three or we look at Peter Handscomb in the middle order.

“These are all golden opportunities for all the guys.”

In his final chance to impress the coach, Handscomb couldn’t have done much more, with an 81 and a second half century against Queensland on a Gabba wicket that hasn’t been easy for batting.

But Harris also gave a timely reminder of what he would offer at the top of the order.

Peter Handscomb could force his way back into the Aussie Test XI.

Looming ominously in the shadows of Sydney’s big wet is Virat Kohli, who will be desperate for a bat at the SCG on Thursday after day one of their tour match against the Cricket Australia XI was a washout.

Langer said Australia’s challenge this summer was to make all-time great Kohli “respect” his team.

“He’s a superstar no doubt,’ said the coach.

“What my hope is at the end of the series is he really respects the Australian cricket team.

“The great players I played with, whether it was Steve Waugh or Allan Border or Ponting or Hayden or McGrath or Shane Warne, Michael Clarke, all the great players, the ones they respected the most was the ones who made it hardest for them.

“That’s what we have to do.

“There’s a lot of talk about how we’ll play our cricket — there are a lot of different views on that — but if the Indians sit there and go, ‘wow, these guys have played really hard cricket against us’, and they leave our shores respecting the Australian cricket team, then I think that’s our best way to handle Kohli.’’

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