Australia Test team for World Test Championship: Josh Inglis v Sam Konstas, Cameron Green fitness

Australia will ‘100 per cent’ shake up their batting line-up for June’s World Test Championship final, as they wrestle with the stunning Test cricket arrivals of Josh Inglis and Sam Konstas.

Australian coach Andrew McDonald has flagged changes to the Aussie batting line-up for the World Test Championship final while all but endorsing Usman Khawaja to carry on until next summer’s Ashes series and perhaps beyond.

A “missed opportunity” in Sri Lanka two-and-a-half years ago is a reminder of the chance to secure a rare Test series win on Asian soil when the second Test begins on Thursday.

But the Aussies’ crushing innings and 242-run win in the first Test has ensured that Australia will hold all available bilateral Test trophies, as well as the WTC crown, until at least June, when they clash with South Africa at Lord’s.

Australia picked a bespoke line-up for the Galle conditions, with Travis Head returning to the top of the order, Sam Konstas omitted, Josh Inglis debuting at No.5 and Alex Carey elevated above Beau Webster to No.6.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald has a batting dilemma on his hands with an influx of in-form young talent. Picture: AFP

Just about every post proved a winner, with Head getting the Aussies off to a flyer with a half-century on the opening morning, and Inglis making a century at better than a run a ball.

That line-up is unlikely to change for the second Test unless Australia is confronted with a vastly different wicket. The Aussies then don’t play another Test until the WTC decider, by which point Cameron Green is due to return from injury and be available as a specialist batter.

While McDonald would not rule out Inglis playing in England, he guaranteed that Australia’s order would likely again be altered from the set-up employed in Sri Lanka.

“I think we’ll keep our options open as I suppose, a general theme. We’ve got to pick a squad of 15, and then the conditions will be different there,” McDonald said.

Josh Inglis made an immediate impact for Australia – scoring a century on debut against Sri Lanka. Picture: Getty

“I think it’ll be a different order to that, if that’s what you’re sort of angling at. So 100 per cent it will be a different order to that. What that order looks like will depend on the conditions, potentially the ball that we play with.”

A decision is yet to be announced on whether the Dukes or Kookaburra ball will be used for the match.

“I’m not sure what ball we’re going to use over there and things like that,” McDonald added.

“We want to make sure that the batting group is flexible and adaptable in the challenges that present. And even a small shift of Alex Carey to No.6 and Beau to No.7. And the way that the batters are buying into that speaks volumes for where they’re at.”

Sam Konstas is another interesting figure – he played a crucial role in Australia’s successful Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumph, but was dumped for the first Sri Lanka Test. Picture: AFP

One man who seems destined to keep his position at the top of the order is Khawaja, who put a difficult summer behind him to post the maiden double ton of his Test career in a player-of-the-match performance at Galle International Stadium.

Khawaja, who turned 38 in December, has indicated a keenness to make it to the Ashes, and McDonald – who had implored the veteran to make sure he was available for the Sri Lanka tour – essentially wrote off Khawaja’s struggles during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series as the result of Jasprit Bumrah’s menace.

“We still think he’s got plenty of cricket left in him, and I think he’s been clear on that. Also tough summer, Bumrah, I think that’s probably where we landed in our summary of that one,” McDonald said.

Usman Khawaja has booked his spot for next summer’s Ashes series – and perhaps beyond. Picture: AFP

The coach meanwhile conceded that he had given up hope of left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann being a part of this tour after the tweaker suffered a compound dislocation and fracture of his right thumb playing in the Big Bash League less than a fortnight from the first Test.

But Kuhnemann recovered to be cleared fit several days before the match, ultimately proving Australia’s primary bowling destroyer with match figures of 9-149.

The coach also acknowledged that selectors were scratching their heads about what they would do if Kuhnemann had been unavailable.

“I’m not sure where we would have ended up. It was a good thing that he got the all clear to come over. So we went into a bit of a holding pattern around that.

“It was a real surprise for me. I don’t know how it works, really, to be honest, I thought he was gone. But as it progressed and got close to the Test match, he was, he was pretty much a lock, sort of three days out.

“Not sure where we would’ve ended up, but there was plenty of conversations around potentials, possibles, leg spin versus finger spin, two off-spinners, which we played in Nagpur before, so they were unfolding. But Matt solved a lot and outstanding performance.”