Play is underway at the ‘Gabba for the morning session on day one.
Clear skies (for now) with an expected top of 30 degrees is the order of the day
Both sides have made changes at selection.
For Australia, Michael Clarke’s omission through injury was no secret, however Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris have also been left out of the XII.
Continuing a remarkable career turnaround, Steve Smith debuts as captain for Australia (presented with his Blazer by Mark Taylor) and Josh Hazlewood was presented with his Baggy Green by Glenn McGrath.
The tourists have made three changes as well; Ashwin, Dhoni and Yadav come into the side, while Shami, Karn and Saha make way.
India won the toss and elected to bat.
We’re looking forward to reading your comments in our live comments ‘Blog’ across the day!
Australia – Smith (c), Rodgers, Warner, Watson, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Haddin, Johnson, Starc, Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
India – Kohli (c), Vijay, Dhawan, Pulara, Rahane, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Aaron, Yadav.
Umpires: Earsmus, Gould, Fry (3rd); Referee: Jeff Crowe
Consensus appears to be that it was a no-brainer for India to bat first.
Congrats to Smith and Hazlewood on their respective debuts. Two different kinds of pressure on the lads.
Got the slightly legal Indian feed on my laptop. Channel 9 feed, via Sky Sports. British ads today. Gin is on special at Sainbury’s, so this is good news.
More than the footy, cricket at Christmas equals homesickness!
Similar story here in Washington, Mickey. I added the “Willow” channel to my cable package just before the 1st test. Live channel 9 commentary mixed with ads for Indian dating sites (am not sure which of those is worse).
Perfect time of day here, 7pm start. Going to be great next week: Xmas evening dinner coinciding with opening session of the Boxing Day test.
Starc bowls too many 4 balls
‘Slightly legal’… I love it Mickey!
What are they feeding our quickies? Hazlewood’s now off! This is a little bit ridiculous.
Vijay goes bang, bang off Watson to make 100. Didn’t realise that he’d got it.
3/180 at over 57.