Canberra: To beat India, Australia will have to bat out of their skins. But with Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, and Marnus Labuschagne out of form, facing the Indian attack led by Jasprit Bumrah won’t be easy.

In his last eight Tests, Khawaja has averaged 30.60 — with no centuries. Smith hasn’t fared any better — averaging 29.38 with no centuries in eight Tests while Labuschagne averages just 23.57.

Yet most of the discussion leading into the first Test was about Labuschagne’s tryst with medium-pace bowling and the bouncers he intended to bowl at the Indian batters. Maybe that was intended to just distract him and everyone else. But it didn’t work.

Two tortured innings at Perth revealed that here is a great who has somehow lost his way in international cricket. His 2 off 52 was of a man struggling with everything he’s got. And the 3 in the second innings was of a man just looking to somehow survive. If Labuschagne won’t score, there is no point in Australia sticking with him.

“We look at the way he plays and when he is at his best, and when we’ve seen him at his best, he’s shown great intent at the crease,” said coach Andrew McDonald in Perth. “So that’s an ongoing discussion … but internally, we are really confident that at his best, he is a player that we need.”

Many in Australia are leaning towards Josh Inglis — the versatile batter with good footwork. But for now, skipper Pat Cummins wants to show faith in a batter who was once averaging over 60 in Test cricket.

That, of course, isn’t the only worry for Australia. They have chosen to not play any domestic games even as the Indians are playing a tour game against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI.

There has been one addition to the Australian squad though with Tasmania allrounder Beau Webster being added for Adelaide as a cover for Mitchell Marsh.

Cummins has repeatedly said Marsh has been playing as the best No.6 batter in the country but there is no doubt that his bowling will take the load off pacers in what is going to be a long series. If he can’t do that, it might be better to give Webster a go.

Webster was the leading scorer in the Sheffield Shield last summer, with 938 runs at 58.62 for Tasmania, and he can bowl pace and spin when needed. He also had a couple of decent games against India A earlier this month — making 145 runs in four innings and claiming seven wickets at 19.57, including six wickets in Melbourne.

“I would be comfortable to do whatever they require,” Webster said. “I feel like I have done it all over the past 10 years, at the top or in the middle. But I dare say the role will be somewhere between that five or seven role with the bat and bowling some overs as well, probably seam-up since we’ve got the spin department covered pretty convincingly with Nathan (Lyon) and a few other guys who bowl some spin.”

Marsh, at his best, isn’t a question but the question is when is he truly at his best. At the start of the first Test, Cummins said Marsh was absolutely fit but by the end, he said there were a few niggles. It just makes things difficult for the team and the selectors.

Still, the pressure at this point is firmly on the hosts. The manner in which they fight back in Adelaide could go a long way towards deciding the tone of the series.

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