On the eve of the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, Australia captain Pat Cummins admitted the visitors might field three spinners in a five-member bowling attack instead of bringing in Mitchell Starc, who could be passed fit to play.
This rare ploy from Australia means left-arm spinner Ashton Agar and Matthew Kuhnemann are in the mix to play in New Delhi from Friday, alongside the off-spin duo of Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy.
"I think there's a conversation. We'll work that out by the end of today, I hope. He's one of the world's premier bowlers in these types of conditions. We'll see. As I said, the wicket looks like it might turn a little bit."
"I thought last week with two pacers, that attack functioned quite well but I think whether it's Starcy, another spinner, Scott (Boland), variety in the attack does help," he said in the pre-match press conference.
Both Starc and fast-bowling all-rounder Cameron Green, on road to recovery from finger injuries, didn't train on Thursday. On Wednesday, when they trained, they looked in decent touch though they had their share of discomforts while bowling and batting.
"Starcy and Green had good sessions yesterday and we will assess them later on today. We don't have a line through them yet, we'll see," updated Cummins. Green's inclusion as a fast-bowling all-rounder does provide the flexibility Australia are searching to play three spinners.
Green has played five Tests in Asia, averaging 43.16 with the bat and 63.66 with the ball. "Having a right-hander helps and him providing our fifth bowling option also helps.
He's a big player, it certainly helps the team function well from batting and bowling." "You have got to be able to perform as well, he's still coming back from that injury, and he's only had a couple of sessions where he's catching with a hard ball.
He had a really good session (on Wednesday), but will see how he pulls up," added Cummins. "Ideally your allrounder needs to be good enough to bat in the top six. So that's a luxury we've had with Cam Green.
In the past, I think my first probably 20 Test matches, we went in with four bowlers. It's draining but you can make it work." "Again spin bowlers could probably bowl 25 overs in a day rather than 20.
So, ideally, you've got batters that can chip in or a full-on allrounder like a Cam Green but if not, I think you can get away with four bowlers." Kuhnemann, who joined the squad on Monday, had bowled on the pitch adjacent to the surface for the second Test and did seek the advice of spin bowling coach Daniel Vettori on how he was shaping up.
"We're open to both options (Agar and Kuhnemann). We're really confident both will do a fantastic job out there. They both had long sessions the last couple of days and looked awesome.
If we wanted a third spinner variety, we'd be comfortable with either of those two." Cummins signed off by saying adjusting to the pitch in New Delhi, which looks dry from the media centre area, will be key to bouncing back from the loss by an innings and 132 runs in Nagpur.
"Even the last game we saw a lot of around-the-wicket bowling whereas in Australia it's mainly over-the-wicket bowling. It's a bit of an adjustment, but in some ways, it doesn't get any better.
I thought last game, both spinners did a really good job. You have a wicket there that's spinning, you can show how good you are."