Australia won’t shy away from picking NSW prodigy Sam Konstas against India if they feel he is in their best XI

Australia will have no hesitation in throwing teenage prodigy Sam Konstas in to open the batting in the blockbuster battle against India if they feel he is in their best XI.

The 19-year-old is mounting a strong case for a Test debut this summer after a brilliant start to the Sheffield Shield season for NSW.

Konstas smashed twin Shield centuries their season opener earlier this month and then performed admirably in last week’s loss against Victoria on a spicy MCG pitch.

Australian selectors have often erred on the side of caution when weighing up whether to pick young players, especially in marquee Tests against India and England.

India, who on Saturday suffered a historic home Test series loss against New Zealand, will be trying desperately to maintain their grip on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and have been successful on their past two tours of Australia.

“Any time we’re picking a Test team … we’re picking the best team for here and now,” Australia men’s head coach Andrew McDonald told ABC TV’s Offsiders on Sunday.

“If that does encompass a younger player, then we’ll head down that direction.

“Clearly Sam Konstas on the back of his first Shield match, and the way he went about his work in the second innings at the MCG against Scott Boland has definitely made some noise.

“If they’re ready, they’re ready in our mind, and if Sam’s capable and we feel as though he’s capable to fill that spot, I don’t think the opponent should come into the equation.

“You’ve got to start against someone, and you shouldn’t be so-called holding back and protecting someone from a potential opponent.”

McDonald will not rush into picking Usman Khawaja’s opening partner, declaring selectors will wait until after the second Australia A-India A match, starting at the MCG on November 7.

The vacancy at the top came about after the Steve Smith opening experiment lasted just four Tests.

Smith said last week he didn’t ask for a return to No.4, but admitted it’s his preferred spot to bat for Australia.

“On the back of New Zealand, we checked in around that opening position,” McDonald said.

“We believe that this challenge, moving forward against India, the best thing for the team is to move Steve away from that opening position.”

NRMA Insurance Men’s Test Series v India

Australia squad: TBC

India squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed

First Test: November 22-26: Perth Stadium, 1.20pm AEDT

Second Test: December 6-10: Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (D/N)

Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11.20am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT