Australia's selection decisions for the India squad have raised many eyebrows over the last few weeks.
The most well-known of them all was the decision to leave star batsman Travis Head out of the team in Australia's first Test against India and Nagpur.
However, slipping between the cracks of cricket fans was the omission of Marcus Harris, who, having had a remarkable run of form in the Sheffield Shield, did not even make the trip to India.
In fact, just moments before both Australian openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja were dismissed for one run each, the Victorian opener reached 100 against the likes of Michael Neser, Mark Steketee and Matthew Kuhnemann for Queensland.
This was Harris' second century for the Sheffield Shield season.
Despite being given multiple opportunities at the highest level for Australia, the Perth-born man has been seriously unlucky in recent times, acting as a reserve batter in the five Test matches played in Australia over the summer against the West Indies and South Africa.
Such decisions have left the opener baffled, leading him to question what else he could possibly do to earn his spot in the side.
Speaking to Fox Sports, Harris said: "The message (from the Australian selectors) was that different people are more versatile in different positions, which is fair enough."
โI just sort of said, โhow do you become more versatile if you don't get exposed to stuff'.โ
Although Harris has made complaints about his absence from the side, he has said that he and those involved in Australian selection, coach Andrew McDonald and chief selector George Bailey, have a good relationship and there is a "strong line of communication" between them.
โMy only question to the selectors was how do I become more versatile โ I'm not going to bat at five or six for Victoria,โ Harris said.
With the left-hander now in the latter part of his career, his window to re-enter the side is becoming slimmer and slimmer.
As Harris himself concedes, he must continue to put his head down and make as many runs as possible in first-class cricket in order to regain his spot.
Australia are currently in a poor position against India having been bowled out for 177 runs.
Interestingly, David Warner, Usman Khawaja and Matt Renshaw, all of which have edged out Harris for selection, combined for just two runs in the first innings.
With the Ashes coming up later this year,ย Harris will play with Gloucester to try and familiarise himself with the English conditions and hopefully earn himself a spot in the Australian side.
