Key events
6th over: India 1-11 (Rahul 6, Padikkal 0) This is good from KL Rahul. Two runs off the inside half. Leaves the wider stuff, defends the tighter line, ducks the bouncer. Not giving Hazlewood a way in.
5th over: India 1-9 (Rahul 4, Padikkal 0) KL Rahul handles Starc more comfortably than his two partners have so far, though the ball is still swinging for the left-arm quick. One run from the final ball, another cover push.
4th over: India 1-8 (Rahul 3, Padikkal 0) Runs off the bat! Huge cheers, last ball of Hazlewood’s second over, as KL props forward and plays a controlled check drive through the covers for three.
3rd over: India 1-5 (Rahul 0, Padikkal 0) Facing the fire early is Devdutt Padikkal at No3, and he gets an absolute unplayable first up. Swinging in, seaming away, narrowly missing stump and edge. Starc is on one. Adds in a huge lbw appeal for a ball angling down leg, then a full swinging yorker that nearly lands on the batter’s toes except Padikkal gets the toe of the bat in the way instead. Whoosh. What an over.
WICKET! Jaiswal c McSweeney b Starc 0, India 1-5
Early wicket! Starc pitched it up, gets his line right, and the scrambled seam maybe shifts the ball away slightly. Jaiswal aims a big drive at the wrong length to play that shot, and edges low into the gully. McSweeney into the game right away, great signs for him.
2nd over: India 0-5 (Jaiswal 0, Rahul 0) A maiden for Hazlewood first up, of course, Rahul playing and missing at one ball outside off.
1st over: India 0-5 (Jaiswal 0, Rahul 0) We’re away in true Mitchell Starc fashion! Tries to produce the Rory Burns ball to the left-handed Jaiswal, but it doesn’t swing back in, instead seaming away on the angle to beat Carey behind the stumps for four byes. Next ball, across the lefty, nick into the cordon on the bounce. There must have been a chorus of “They usually carry at Perth!” from every comm box in the stadium. Throw an overstep in there, and it’s five extras from the over.
And we’re about to get underway! Here come Jaiswal and KL for India, with the running stripes down the legs of their trousers in true Adidas style. Let’s go.
The national anthems are run and won. Big cheers all around. Lots of people out on the ground standing in some kind of dot pattern formation. Do they spell something? Do they join up with red strings to paint a picture? Get a drone onto it.
Geoff Lemon
Thanks Marty, and good morning from Perth, as it is here. Lovely day, stripes of high white cloud, no precipitation in them, and strands of blue in between that mean we’re getting periods of sunshine. And it’s mild! Temperate! Not the anvil-busting Perth temperatures of legend. At least not until later in the week. Australia won’t mind bowling in the cool conditions.
The countdown is well and truly on to the first ball in this blockbuster five-Test series. Thanks for following along to this point – Geoff Lemon will now steer you through the rest of the build up and across the first half of the day’s play.
India XI
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah (capt), Mohammed Siraj.
Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana make their Test debuts but off-spinner Sundar is very much the surprise selection in place of Australia’s old nemeses Ashwin and Jadeja.
Australia XI
Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
No surprises for Australia as Nathan McSweeney makes his debut among what Pat Cummins casually calls “all the regulars”.
India win the toss
Jasprit Bumrah calls correctly and India will bat first at Optus Stadium.
“Looks like a good wicket,” the India skipper says. “We played a Test here [in Perth] in 2018 so we know what to expect. The wicket gets quicker after the first session.”
Pat Cummins says it was “pretty 50-50” which way he would’ve gone if Australia won the toss.
The simmering rivalry between the two leading Test sides across the past two WTC cycles, and for the best part of a decade, has elevated the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to become one of the most highly-anticipated and hard-fought series in international cricket.
But have Australia and India clashes replaced the Ashes as the premier red-ball battle? Jack Snape and Josh Nicholas dig into the data.
India has become not only as much as a draw for crowds as the “old enemy” in England, the broadcast windfall of Australia-India clashes will underpin CA’s financial recovery.
Jasprit Bumrah is set to lead a new-look India lineup in just his second Test as captain, while also carrying the load as the dangerman in their bowling attack on a juicy deck in Perth.
Yours truly takes a closer look at Bumrah and the other Indians that will play a major hand in this blockbuster five-Test series.
Nathan McSweeney is presented with his baggy green by former Australia batter and coach Darren Lehmann. The 25-year-old earns Australia Test cap #467.
Nathan McSweeney was the winner of the Great Australian Bat Off as the reigning World Test champions search for an opener to replace David Warner (and Steve Smith), especially with Cameron Green sidelined for the summer with a back injury.
India have many more selection concerns with captain Rohit Sharma yet to arrive in Australia for personal reasons, Mohammed Shami still recovering from injury and Shubman Gill under a cloud after taking a blow to the thumb.
But India were in an ever greater predicament three years ago, as Geoff Lemon reminds us:
India became the subcontinent team that figured out how to win in Australia, taking down the first-choice home bowling attack both times in the process. Then last year, when hosting was reversed, Australia got swatted in Nagpur and Delhi to let India keep a grip on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Preamble
Martin Pegan
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the first day of the first Test between Australia and India. The first five-Test series between the pair of powerhouses since 1991-92 has all the hallmarks of being a rip snorter with established stars and emerging talents on both sides set to lock horns as the tourists seek to maintain their firm grip on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
While India have won the past four series – twice in Australia and as many times on home soil – they arrive this time under even more pressure than usual after a shock series defeat to New Zealand and with several players from their first-choice XI missing this opening Test in Perth. Australia’s lineup is more familiar but a debutant at the top of the order in Nathan McSweeney is sure to get the heart racing on the bouncy deck at Optus Stadium.
First ball will be at 10:20am local time / 1:20pm AEDT. I’ll be seeing us through to the toss, when Geoff Lemon will take the reins. The forecast in Perth is a bit cooler than usual for this time of year with a maximum of 23 while there is a bit of cloud and light wind around, making the toss a curious call for Pat Cummins and Jasprit Bumrah.
Get in touch with any comments, questions, thoughts and predictions – you can shoot me an email or find me @martinpegan on Bluesky or X. Let’s get into it!
