India win toss, bat first in series opener against Australia

India captain Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and elected to bat in the opening Test against Australia at Perth Stadium on Friday, making some shock team selections.
The visitors have won their last two Border-Gavaskar trophy series in Australia, most recently 2-1 in 2020-21, but begin this campaign after a demoralising 3-0 home defeat to New Zealand.
“Looks like a good wicket,” said Bumrah. “We played a Test here in 2018 so we know what to expect. The wicket gets quicker after the first session.
“Very confident of the preparations we’ve had.”
In a surprise, veterans Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were dropped.
Stand-in skipper Bumrah leads the attack alongside Mohammed Siraj with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana handed debuts.
Washington Sundar was preferred as the spin option.
Regular skipper and opener Rohit Sharma is not playing after the recent birth of his second child with the experienced KL Rahul taking his spot.
Shubman Gill was also ruled out after injuring his thumb, allowing Devdutt Padikkal to slot in at number three.
In another surprise, Dhruv Jurel got the nod ahead of middle-order batsman Sarfaraz Khan.
Nathan McSweeney makes his debut for Australia, opening alongside Usman Khawaja following the retirement of David Warner.
McSweeney usually bats at three and has only ever opened once before.
Mitchell Marsh assumes the allrounder role with Cameron Green out of the series injured.
“Feel fresh, ready to go,” said Australia captain Pat Cummins.
“Any format we play it seems to be fiercely fought, Test matches even more so.”
Australia: Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah (capt), Mohammed Siraj
Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (ENG), Chris Gaffaney (NZL)
TV umpire: Richard Illingworth (ENG)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)