At the end of Australia's humiliation in Sri Lanka last year, we were told emphatically that the team's plans for Asian conditions had to change fundamentally if they were to succeed next time. The announcement of the touring party for four Tests in India in February and March will be a measure of the selectors' resolve.

The coach and selector Darren Lehmann has overseen five consecutive Test losses in Asian conditions, from the 2014 tour of the UAE to the Sri Lanka visit. He was appointed coach in the aftermath of the previous trip to Asia - the infamous 2013 visit to India that featured a 4-0 defeat and the "homework-gate" fiasco. His words after the conclusion of the Sri Lanka series bear repeating:

"The difference is we've got to change in the subcontinent. Results will say that with India, UAE and now Sri Lanka. We've got to change the way we pick and shape up the squad for a subcontinent [tour]. We have to look at all different angles I suppose. The shape-up of the side, whether you need one quick, two quicks, three quicks, allrounders, and see how we play.

"It certainly hasn't worked the way we've played. We think we've had the right balance but our batters haven't made enough runs. It's pretty simple. When you look at [Sheffield] Shield cricket, it's very hard to determine who's going to be a good player of spin and not on Australian wickets. So for us somehow we've got to find a way."

To that end, the likes of Peter Handscomb, Steve O'Keefe and Ashton Agar were shuffled into the Test squad over the course of a tumultuous home summer. Others, like Shaun Marsh and Travis Head, were present in Sri Lanka. Glenn Maxwell, who has spent much of the season dealing with the fallout of his attempt to move from Victoria to New South Wales, appears to have rehabilitated his reputation, and has past experience on his side.

More problematic for the selectors are the Queensland duo of Usman Khawaja and Matt Renshaw. Khawaja has never passed 50 in four Tests in Asia and looked no closer to unlocking the secrets of playing spin on the last Sri Lanka visit. Renshaw possesses many of the natural attributes that once aided Matthew Hayden in India, but at 20 years old he will have to prove a rapid learner.

One thing in favour of both batsmen is the keen sense among Australia's planners that the touring team will have to bat for long periods of time in order to succeed. Renshaw and Khawaja love nothing more than to spend hour upon hour at the crease: the question is whether they have the requisite methods to stay there.

While wicketkeeping skills are tested to extremes by the variable bounce and degree of spin expected in India, the selection of Matthew Wade as the gloveman does not appear to be in dispute. Though his work behind the stumps lacks the polish of others, notably the man he replaced in Peter Nevill, Wade's ability to help contribute to a winning attitude in the team - evidenced by his century in the Gabba ODI against Pakistan on Friday - will help him.

"I'd be nervous if we'd lost four Test matches in a row, but we're winning games," Wade said. "The team's going well, the young guys are playing well and I feel like we're in a really good spot. "Selection is selection. The team will get picked and hopefully I'm in it, but I don't feel nervous when the team's winning the way it is."

Nothing will stretch the captaincy skills of Smith, nor the coaching abilities of Lehmann, like the trip about to be undertaken. The squad unveiled on Sunday will need to be, above all else, resilient.