Australia vice-captain Mitchell Marsh was dropped for the first Test against India, with Peter Handscomb earning his spot in Adelaide.

Tim Paine announced that Handscomb would bat at number five in the series opener beginning on Thursday, with Marsh to miss out.

Handscomb, who has played 13 Tests for Australia, has made 361 runs at an average of 45.12 for Victoria this Sheffield Shield season.

Marsh, meanwhile, has scored 232 runs at 46.40, but just 81 of those have come in his last four innings.

"Mitch Marsh probably just hasn't been as consistent as he would like and we would like," Paine told a news conference on Wednesday.

"We know the talent Mitch has, we know most likely at some stage in this series we'll need him.

"We're taking the opportunity at the moment to actually send him back to play a Shield game, get some more cricket under his belt, knowing at some stage we're probably going to need him."

Opener Marcus Harris will make his Test debut, while Travis Head will bat at number six for Australia.

Australia XI: Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Tim Paine, Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.