<p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah leads the side in Rohit's absence, with pacer Harshit Rana and batsman Nitish Kumar Reddy both handed debuts.</p><p>"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.</p><p>KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal open the batting for the visitors, while Washington Sundar has been selected as the sole spinner.</p><p>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.</p><p>Mitchell Marsh will have to shoulder additional pace bowling workload with fellow all-rounder Cameron Green sidelined after undergoing back surgery.</p>.Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Two pacers as captains -- a rare occurrence .<p>"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.</p><p>India have won the last four series against Australia.</p><p>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</p><p>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</p>
<p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah leads the side in Rohit's absence, with pacer Harshit Rana and batsman Nitish Kumar Reddy both handed debuts.</p><p>"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.</p><p>KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal open the batting for the visitors, while Washington Sundar has been selected as the sole spinner.</p><p>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.</p><p>Mitchell Marsh will have to shoulder additional pace bowling workload with fellow all-rounder Cameron Green sidelined after undergoing back surgery.</p>.Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Two pacers as captains -- a rare occurrence .<p>"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.</p><p>India have won the last four series against Australia.</p><p>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</p><p>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</p>