Katich Out To Cement Test Berth

Katich - man on a mission.

Australia batsman Simon Katich is keen to cement his spot at the top of the Test batting order.

Katich will lead a 14-man Australia A squad to the sub-continent next month for two three-day matches and four one-dayers against India and New Zealand counterparts before Australia's four-match Test series against India begins in October.

And while Katich performed extremely well in Australia's most recent Test series against West Indies, he knows he will have to continue to make runs just to hold his spot.

"It is exciting for all the guys concerned with the Test tour coming up in only a month's time," Katich said. "Some good performances in this A tour will certainly be looked at (by national selectors).

"The first tour match is at Bangalore where the first Test is going to be played and the second tour match is in Hyderabad so both will be good opportunities for us to perform well and put our hands up for selection."

Katich has scored two centuries in his past three innings for Australia, but has not played since he scored 193 against West Indies in June.

The 33-year-old is looking forward to leaving Australia on Thursday and flying to India to get some cricket under his belt with the A team.

"The one thing about this tour is that it is about getting the rust out of the system and trying to perform well after a break," Katich said.

"It is a perfect opportunity for us to go out there and just try and get back into playing mode."

And Katich is not too concerned about the humid conditions expected in India at this time of year.

"It might take a little bit of getting used to but we are lucky that we have got three or four days before the first tour match to acclimatise and train in the nets," Katich added.