5 Indian batsmen who could lose their spots if they fail in the Australia Tests

India's tour of Australia has already kicked off with the T20I series drawn at 1-1. Now the focus shifts to the 4-match Test series which will start from December 6 at Adelaide Oval.

The Test squad of India is different from their limited-overs squads. Quite a few experienced players will be making their way back into the team. The focus will be on India's batsmen as they try and adapt to the Australian pitches.

For some of the Indian players, the upcoming edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is a make or break series. Here are five Indian batsmen who could potentially lose their Test spots if they fail in Australia.

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#5 Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane will be under the scanner in this series

Ajinkya Rahane is a classic batsman with a superb technique and great attributes of a Test cricketer. His balance at the crease and compact technique enabled him to score runs all over the world.

Rahane was India's most accomplished batsman overseas throughout the away season in 2013/14. In fact, he is one of the few Indian batsmen who has played more matches overseas and averages better than the home.

Rahane's batting average outside India is 46.33, which is way better than his average of 34.55 in India. He has 6 centuries overseas while only 3 at home. This proves that he has got all the techniques and abilities to conquer the world.

But of late runs are coming for Rahane, neither at the overseas nor at home. He has been struggling for runs for two years now. In 2017 he averaged just 34.63 with just 1 century to his name. 2018 has been even worse, in 9 matches he has scored 445 runs at an average of 29.67 without a single hundred.

Rahane's recent England tour wasn't great in which he averaged just 25.70. Against a weaker test side like West Indies at home, he couldn't get a century. In fact, he has now played 13 matches without a century. So a failure on this tour may see him being dropped from the Test team.

#4 Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma is in thin ice as far as Test cricket is concerned

Rohit Sharma is a giant as far as white-ball cricket is concerned. His records and form in limited overs cricket are impeccable. But his form in red ball cricket always seems to be suspicious.

Rohit played the first two Test matches of this year in South Africa and now he might be playing in the last Test matches of this year. His forgettable performance in those initial matches resulted in his omission from the Test team.

Rohit was not picked for the England tour and also for the series against West Indies at home. But surprisingly he made his comeback into the Test team for this Australian tour. His previous record in Tests in Australia is not that great. In 4 innings that he played on the last tour, he managed to score just 81 runs.

He averages 85.44 in Test matches at home. But his away record is screaming for improvement. In 15 matches outside of India, he has scored 710 runs at an average of 25.36 without a single century.

If Rohit performs well on this tour, then it will be a great relief to India's struggling middle order. But a failure on this tour may result in selectors starting to ignore him for future Test matches.

#3 KL Rahul

KL Rahul is struggling for form at the moment

KL Rahul is one of the most promising talents in the Test batting line-up of the Indian team. He has played some breathtaking innings in Tests as well as in limited-overs cricket, which made everyone to applaud his talent.

But the biggest problem with Rahul is his inconsistency. If he showed some consistency, then he would have been regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world.

During the last two overseas tours of India, Rahul got plenty of opportunities but failed to make an impact. In England, he averaged 29.90 in 5 matches. In South Africa, he scored just 30 runs in 4 innings.

An even more worrying fact is that Rahul struggled in the home series against West Indies by scoring just 37 runs in 3 innings. He went into that series on the back of a fine hundred at The Oval but sadly wasn't able to continue his form.

Rahul has played 10 Test matches this year and averages just 24.71 with a century and a half-century. With the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal coming into the scene, he must perform in this series or else find himself on the sidelines in the near future.

#2 Parthiv Patel

Parthiv will be looking to revive his Test career

Parthiv Patel is touring Australia as a Test player after a gap of 14 years. He last toured in 2003/04 when the likes of Steve Waugh and Justin Langer (Australia's current coach) were still playing.

Parthiv has played 25 Test matches for India thus far and scored 934 runs at an average of 31.73 with 6 half-centuries. His glove work behind the stumps is also decent, with 62 catches and 10 stumpings.

Parthiv has always been seen as a stand-in wicket-keeper for India. Although he made his Test debut before MS Dhoni, he was never able to secure his place in the team. After Dhoni's retirement, he was again overlooked for Wriddhiman Saha.

In 2016 when Parthiv made a significant comeback to Test cricket after 8 years, he grabbed his opportunity with both hands against England at home. An injury to Saha opened his doors to the Test team and he averaged 65.00 in that series.

But surprisingly he didn't get the chance to play in 2017. In 2018, he made a comeback in South Africa where he failed to perform. He scored just 56 runs in 2 matches.

After the South Africa series, Parthiv was dropped from the team even as Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant were tried. Pant's promising performances have made him the team's first-choice wicket-keeper.

Now, this might be Parthiv's last chance to stake a claim at the wicket-keeper slot in the Test team. If he gets the chance to play, he has to contribute with the bat in the series or the doors may be shut on him forever.

#1 Murali Vijay

Murali Vijay is making a comeback into the Test team

Not long ago, Murali Vijay was considered as one of the most accomplished batsmen in the Indian Test team. His consistent performances overseas had earned him a very good reputation all around the world.

But things have changed quite dramatically for the seasoned opener. Once a very dependable batsman, he is now going on the Australian tour as the third opener. However, the injury to Prithvi Shaw in the warm-up match means that Vijay's chances of playing the first Test are bright.

2018 has been very harsh on Murali Vijay. Apart from the one-off test match against Afghanistan, he has not been able to score runs. He averaged 17 in South Africa and made 26 runs in 4 innings in England.

A poor performance in England saw him dropped from the team. But he got himself a County stint and scored significant runs for Essex in order to make a comeback into the Test lineup.

Vijay is approaching his declining years as a cricketer. So opportunities could be very hard to come by if he does not make them count. The competition for the opening slot has also become tough after the arrival of KL Rahul and Prithvi Shaw.