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Mitchell Marsh walks off after being given lbw Getty Images

Mitchell Marsh missed an opportunity to make a forceful statement to Australia's selectors after being left out of the first Test against India and doesn't know the impact his omission will have on his role as joint vice-captain.

Marsh was named as vice-captain of the Test side alongside Josh Hazlewood earlier this year, but neither have played in the same team yet after Hazlewood missed the Tests in the UAE and now Marsh's axing for Adelaide. It is an unusual situation for a team to have a designated vice-captain on the sidelines other than through injury.

"I don't know where I stand in that sense," he said. "Lucky we've got two vice-captains."

Marsh was dropped when Australia favoured Peter Handscomb as a specialist batsman in the middle order and the allrounder was sent back to the Sheffield Shield with instructions to score runs.

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He returned 21 and 11 for Western Australia against Victoria at the MCG - and claimed 1 for 102 - in a performance that did not hammer the door down for an immediate recall.

"I was obviously very disappointed to miss out in the first Test but I understood the reasons why," Marsh told reporters in Melbourne. "Ultimately, you've got two ways to go about it - you can either sulk and go into your shell or you can put a smile on your face and enjoy the hard work, enjoy the challenge of getting back into that Test side."

Despite struggles in the UAE against Pakistan, where he made 30 runs in four innings which continued a lean Test run dating back to South Africa, Marsh returned to domestic action with 151 against Queensland last month but then followed that with scores of 1, 44, 6 and 30 in the next two matches before the Test squad assembled.

"I still felt like I was in really good form and feeling very confident heading into last week. But ultimately I still had two chances before the Test match to put a big score on the board and I didn't do that. The message was clear - I needed more runs."

It appears unlikely Marsh will get his chance in his home state of Perth despite continued discussion about the workload Australia's three quicks face without the presence of an allrounder.

Mitchell Starc, who sent down 40.5 overs, was disappointing in Adelaide but has been backed by captain Paine while Hazlewood clocked up 43 overs and Pat Cummins 37.

"I was certainly pumped about [playing in Perth] and I still am," Marsh said. "I'm in the squad so I'd say I'm a chance … ultimately it'll come down to conditions and how the bowlers pull up."