PERTH (AFP) – Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood snared four wickets, including Virat Kohli, during an intimidating opening session to leave India in trouble on day one of the first Test against Australia on Friday in Perth.
Batting after captain Jasprit Bumrah won the toss on a fine morning, the visitors stumbled to 51-4 by lunch with superstar Kohli again out cheaply, gone for five.
Rishabh Pant was unbeaten on 10 and Dhruv Jurel not-out four in front of a pro-Indian, drum-bashing crowd at Perth Stadium.
Both Starc and Hazlewood were 2-10 off their eight overs apiece.
Yashasvi Jaiswal departed without scoring in the third over, edging an attempted drive off Starc to debutant Nathan McSweeney, who did well to collect low at gully.
With Shubman Gill nursing an injured thumb and ruled out, left-hander Devdutt Padikkal came in at number three for his second Test and survived a big lbw shout almost immediately.
Australia's famed pace attack was at full throttle and it proved slow going for India, who crawled to 14-1 off 10 overs.
The nervy Padikkal faced 23 deliveries without scoring before his luck ran out when Hazlewood steamed in and enticed an edge that was easily taken by wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
That brought Kohli to the crease, in dire need of a big score after only two Test centuries in the last five years and with questions mounting over whether he still warranted selection.
Despite a stellar record in Australia he was never comfortable and lasted just 12 balls before fending off a climbing Hazlewood thunderbolt that took an edge to Usman Khawaja at slip.
India's woes worsened when opener KL Rahul feathered to Carey on 26 just before the break, having played well in tough conditions.
The visitors have won their last two Border-Gavaskar trophy series in Australia, but began this campaign after a demoralising 3-0 home defeat to New Zealand.
In a shock, they dropped veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and allrounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana were handed debuts, with Washington Sundar the preferred spin option.
Reuters adds: 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.
SQUADS
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
India: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Mohammed Siraj.