Shane Watson will probably lead the side if Australia skipper Michael Clarke is ruled out of Friday’s fourth Test with a back injury, coach Mickey Arthur says.

Intrigue surrounds not only Clarke’s ability to prove his fitness for the dead-rubber clash with India in Delhi but whether Watson will be the logical replacement as captain if required.

Arthur claimed he hadn’t even discussed with his fellow selectors if Watson would slot automatically back into the side after missing the third Test in Mohali through suspension.

Watson, in-form James Pattinson and fellow squad members Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Johnson were all handed one-match bans for the third Test for failing to complete homework assignments on time.

“We haven’t given it a thought yet,” coach/selector Arthur said on Tuesday.

“We’ll sit down once we have a look at conditions and we’ll get it pretty much sorted tomorrow.”

Arthur says he’s comfortable that Watson has accepted his punishment.

“He didn’t agree with the penalty but he agreed that they had done wrong,” Arthur said.

Arthur says Watson might lead the team in Clarke’s absence, but that’s not confirmed.

“I am comfortable that if Pup doesn’t come up he could do the job,” Arthur said.

“That could be a discussion with the other on-duty selectors as to what we did but Shane at the moment is vice-captain.

“You would have to assume that because he is still the vice-captain that we probably wouldn’t go past him.”

Another headache for Arthur is not only Clarke’s fitness for the fourth Test but keeping the skipper on the field for the Ashes in July.

Clarke is set to play in the April-May Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament which could be a drain on the star batsman’s fitness given his long-term back issues.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we have to but that will ultimately be Mike’s decision, obviously with some help from our medical team,” Arthur said.