Australia will consider playing Steve O'Keefe as one of three spinners in a desperate bid to avoid a humiliating series whitewash in Bangladesh after losing the first Test in Dhaka.
Next week's second Test in Chittagong suddenly looms as a massive challenge for Steve Smith's men after they were beaten by 20 runs by a Bangladesh side ranked ninth in the world.
Australia's batsmen were again found wanting in tough subcontinent conditions, collapsing either side of lunch of day four to hand Bangladesh their first Test victory over Australia.
A 2-0 series defeat would send Australia tumbling to No.6 in the world rankings with a summer Ashes series on the horizon.
With Josh Hazlewood headed home after suffering a side strain, there is a strong chance Jackson Bird will be overlooked in favour of a spin-heavy line-up featuring O'Keefe, Nathan Lyon and Ashton Agar.
That would leave Pat Cummins as Australia's sole quick, with batting allrounder Hilton Cartwright potentially added to the side to provide back-up with his right-arm medium pace.
Usman Khawaja appears the most likely of Australia's batsmen to face the axe in that scenario after scoring just two runs from two innings in a disastrous return to the Test squad.
The Australian camp had been eager to bring the elegant left-hander back into the fold after an eight-month absence, but his poor record on the subcontinent may prove impossible to ignore.
A more drastic but less likely option would be to axe wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and hand the gloves to Peter Handscomb.
Australia employed three spinners when Ricky Ponting led his side to victory over Bangladesh in Chittagong in 2006, and Smith indicated that option was again being considered.
"If it's a similar-looking wicket to this one out here, then it's certainly a possibility," Smith said.
"We'll have to wait and see when we get to Chittagong what the wicket's like and make an assessment then.
"We've obviously got a few options here. In the end, it's up to the selectors which way they want to go."
Selectors would be wary of over-burdening Cummins when Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson are all nursing injuries but they would also be conscious of playing to the conditions.
Bangladesh spin trio Shakib Al Hasan, Mehedi Hasan and Taijul Islam were responsible for every Australian wicket in Dhaka with the exception of Khawaja's first-innings run-out.
Lyon and Agar also bowled well, combining for 14 wickets, although Smith was frustrated by their inability to hit the right lengths as consistently as the Bangladeshi tweakers.
Smith last week said the initial decision to replace O'Keefe with fellow left-arm spinner Agar for the Bangladesh tour had been driven by the need to prepare for the next Test tour of India in 2021.
The 32-year-old O'Keefe's career had appeared over when he was dumped from the squad despite his match-winning heroics in the first Test against India in Pune.
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