The Australian skipper has claimed 309 wickets in 71 appearances with an average of 22.10.
The Australian chair of selectors Bailey has declared that captain Pat Cummins will have a crucial role in this winter's historic rivalry.
There were concerns that the 32-year-old might sit out due to a stress fracture in his back that was still troubling him.
Initial reports from the squad suggested no final decision had been made regarding Cummins' participation, with the five-Test series set to start on 21 November in Western Australia.
The selector shared that the captain is progressing and remained hopeful about his chances of participating.
"It's clear that the window is narrowing and there are permutations involved, not only the back issue, but additional elements," he commented.
"It's positive. We firmly believe that he'll participate in a major part. With luck it's the first Test. Otherwise, we'll adjust."
Injury History
He was sidelined the ODI and T20 games against India and New Zealand in the previous weeks after scans revealed a lower back issue.
There is a track record of back injuries, with flare-ups in 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2015-16 causing him to miss three Australian summers in a limited period.
The bowler mentioned he would be ""aggressive" and "take risks" in his recovery plan to make the squad for the contest.
Bailey noted that he did not know if he had started his bowling workouts as part of his comeback but acknowledged it was "becoming urgent" for him to regain fitness for the first Test.
Alternative Arrangements
In case of absence, former captain Steve Smith will assume leadership.
The talented all-rounder was recently pulled out from the national team for their one-day international series against the subcontinent side as a preventive step because of discomfort in his torso.
He labeled it as a "slight concern and stated that he's scheduled to appear in the state-level matches, so will be "in a good place to be ready to bowl."
"Considerable effort has gone into creating the schedule for him to be available for the initial game as an batting and bowling option," he elaborated.
"His involvement was limited to the first two ODIs anyway. His aggressive style the cricket bat in white-ball cricket, should it hinder progress for a short period, we opted to approach this more conservatively."
Match Calendar
The Historic Rivalry
Spanning from late 2025 to early 2026
