By Joel Dubber
PERTH, – India won the toss and elected to bat first against Australia at Perth Stadium on Friday in the opener of their highly-anticipated five-test series.
India begin the defence of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy without captain Rohit Sharma, who recently welcomed his second child, and Shubman Gill, who injured his finger during an intra-squad match.
Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah leads the side in Rohit’s absence, with pacer Harshit Rana and batsman Nitish Kumar Reddy both handed debuts.
“We know what to expect over here, the wicket gets quicker after the first session, so we’re pretty confident on our preparation,” said Bumrah.
KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal open the batting for the visitors, while Washington Sundar has been selected as the sole spinner.
Australia have moved Steve Smith back to his favoured number four slot with Queensland’s Nathan McSweeney making his test debut partnering Usman Khawaja at the top of the order.
Mitchell Marsh will have to shoulder additional pace bowling workload with fellow all-rounder Cameron Green sidelined after undergoing back surgery.
“The workout has been nice and bouncy, so if it’s there as a fast bowler, we’d like a bit of pace and bounce,” said Australia captain Pat Cummins.
India have won the last four series against Australia.
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey , Pat Cummins , Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
India: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant , Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah , Mohammed Siraj
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