Warner’s position under threat as Australia considers three spinners for second Test

Australia may replace David Warner with Travis Head at the top of the order as they consider changes among the wreckage of an innings first Test defeat in Nagpur.

Queensland left arm finger spinner Matt Kuhnemann is also a chance to play his first Test after being summoned to India as a replacement for reserve leg-spinner Mitch Swepson, who is returning home for the birth of his child.

Kuhnemann, 26, would be a shock selection but he is being considered as a potential third spinner if Cameron Green is fit and the pitch for the second Test in Delhi also aids spinners, as expected.

A shock axing for the first Test, Head has been discussed as a possible opening batsman in the subcontinent, where he has struggled in the middle order on previous tours.

Sources close to the Australian team confirmed those discussions were continuing after Warner’s double failure in the first Test. Australia lost by an innings and 132 runs inside three days after being bowled out for just 91 in their second innings on Saturday, their lowest score on Indian soil.

Most Australian batsmen were completely bamboozled by exceptional Indian spinners Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja, who claimed 15 of the 20 wickets between them on a helpful surface.

David Warner walks back to pavilion after his dismissal during the third day.Credit:AP

However it was the way that Warner failed which has raised most concerns, playing late on a ball from Mohammed Shami to lose his off stump for one 13 balls into the Test, then rooted to the crease in the second innings before being trapped lbw for 10 from 41 balls by Ashwin.

Warner had a cluttered, and topsy-turvy, home season with some beacons amid the gloom. He had a top score of just 25 in four T20 World Cup innings as Australia bombed out of the tournament at home, then made 86 and 106 in a three-match one-day series against an England side still celebrating their T20 World Cup win.