Australia have announced a 17-strong squad for their Test series against India.

For the home side, a squad of that size would have felt needlessly bloated a year ago, but with bio-bubbles and quarantine periods, it’s something cricket fans have quickly grown used to.

Still, there’s plenty to intrigue about the players selected and unselected. Here are six things to note from the bumper announcement.

Don’t expect wholesale changes

The headline news is that five uncapped players have been included, but for the three bowlers among that quintet, a Test debut remains a distant prospect, barring a slew of injuries. Michael Neser and Sean Abbott are behind not just Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, but also James Pattinson, and considering the opposition, it is unlikely the hosts will play two spinners, meaning Mitchell Swepson’s chances are also low. This is Australia covering their bases and rewarding early season form, rather than ripping up the manual.

Pucovski v Burns shapes up as the big selection headache

The most likely newbie to don a baggy green is the precocious Will Pucovski, long rated as one of Australia’s most exciting prospects, and having reached another level for Victoria after being promoted to open the batting. His consecutive double tons see him sit top of the Sheffield Shield run charts, despite having only played two games; most have played four.

Those stats sit in sharp relief to those of Joe Burns, who has 57 runs from five hits this season. Burns is the man in possession, however, and while Pucovski might be the coming man, the 31-year-old has proven his worth time and again in Australian first-class cricket, and has shown he can make the step up to Test level too, with four Australia tons to his name.

Both are set to open alongside each other for Australia A against the touring Indians as a pre-series warm-up. It may well come down to a straight shoot-out between the pair.

Head’s quiet demotion hints at dwindling credit

Maybe this is just the correcting of a needless spreading of responsibilities; that’s certainly how national selector Trevor Hohns framed it. Having two vice-captains felt like at least one too many, and so Australia have handed Pat Cummins the sole honour of having (vc) written next to his name for the foreseeable. But maybe it also speaks to Travis Head’s position being slightly more precarious than it once was.

The perception of Head in some quarters is that he’s been around for ages without much success, but both estimations are a little off; he’s only 26 years old, and averages a tick under 42 in Test cricket. This could yet be a breakthrough summer, and two hundreds and an average of 65 in four Shield games suggests a player in nick. What’s changed is the man snapping at his heels: Cameron Green, in similarly rich form and hyped to the rafters – imagine Ricky Ponting if he could bowl 140 clicks, has been the general message, from Ian Chappell and plenty of others.

Both will also feature for Australia A, and while it would be a shock if Green were to overtake Head – or Matthew Wade – for the first Test at Adelaide, a poor run of form could see the Aussies role the dice on the youngster.

The tried and tested are being left behind

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Australia’s squad announcement is that the elevations of Green and Pucovski have raised few eyebrows. All have leapfrogged a sizeable set of batsmen that have featured for Australia in the not too distant past, the likes of Usman Khawaja, Marcus Harris, and Cameron Bancroft, all in form, especially Harris, the only man other than Pucovski to make a double hundred in the Shield so far. He can at least find solace in his selection for in the Australia A squad.

Shaun Marsh meanwhile continues his Australian Mark Ramprakash impression; no other player can match his three tons so far this season. All have had varying degrees of success at Test level, but none can be considered total failures. And yet with the next generation emerging, all might wonder how many chances they will get.

The Australia A squad is where the real snubs are

Overall, there are few surprises in the 17 named from which the XI to face India at Adelaide will be selected. It’s down a level where the proper hurt feelings might be found. Take Josh Inglis, with two tons, an average over 100, and a strike-rate nearing a run-a-ball, who can’t find a spot. Alex Carey, yet to play a first-class game in 2020, sits ahead of him. Sam Whiteman – two tons and an average of 55 – is another who can count himself unlucky.

India’s quicks face an uphill struggle

Still, players in such form being overlooked speaks to Australia’s enviable depth, and while it’s easy to get bogged down in the details of a squad announcement, the main takeaway is just how tough the task facing India is. Since the 2018/19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Australia have reintegrated Steve Smith and David Warner, and found a player who might yet be their equal in Marnus Labuschagne. A replay of the last encounter, when India scored five tons between them while Australia notched none, seems remote.