Australia is losing wickets quickly after winning the toss and electing to bat first, with skipper Pat Cummins confirming some big selection changes for the second Test in Delhi.
Queensland spinner Matthew Kuhnemann will make his debut while Travis Head has been recalled. Marnus Labuschagne presented left-armer Kuhnemann with his baggy green and becomes Australian men’s Test player number 466.
Australia is 6-168 after 47 overs, with Peter Handscomb (26*) and Pat Cummins (0*) at the crease.
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Warner survived an early scare, with Indian seamer Mohammad Shami trapping the left-hander on the pads in the first over.
Umpire Nitin Menon raised the dreaded finger, but the decision was overturned after Warner called for the DRS and replays showed an inside edge.
In the eighth over, Warner bottom-edged a pull shot into his elbow, prompting a lengthy delay as he was treated by team medics. The 36-year-old was in noticeable discomfort, but thankfully able to continued his innings.
The Australian openers combined for a 50-run partnership before Shami got the breakthrough India desperately needed, bowling an absolute peach that Warner edged behind to wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat.
Warner departed for 15, his highest score of the series so far.
Marnus Labuschagne smacked a quick 18 before becoming Ravichandran Ashwin’s first victim of the match, trapped on the front pad by a delivery that spun past the inside edge.
Menon initially gave the decision not out, but DRS replays showed that Labuschagne was plumb.
The Aussies were suddenly in disarray at 3-91 when Ashwin removed Smith for a second-ball duck, caught behind after feathering an edge through to Bharat.
The carnage continued the following over when Ravindra Jadeja struck Khawaja high on the pads, with umpire Michael Gough awarding the LBW dismissal.
However, Khawaja was handed a reprieve after calling for the DRS, with Hawkeye suggesting the ball pitched outside leg stump.
Moments before the lunch break, Khawaja brought up a gritty fifty, reaching the milestone in 71 deliveries.
Travis Head showed his intent early in the afternoon session, slapping Ashwin back over his head for a mighty six before edging Shami towards second slip the following over, departing for 12 after KL Rahul claimed a smart catch.
Khawaja and Peter Handscomb steadied the ship, combining for a 59-run partnership for the fifth wicket to prevent another drastic collapse.
Khawaja’s luck ran out in the 46th over after attempting a reverse sweep against Jadeja which was caught at point by Rahul, who lunged to his right and held onto a superb one-handed grab.
“That is an absolute blinder,” Indian legend Ravi Shastri said in commentary.
“It’s come out of nowhere … catches like that can turn matches.”
Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey departed soon after for a duck, edging Ashwin to first slip to swing momentum firmly back in India’s favour.
Speaking ahead of the first ball, former Australian batter Matthew Hayden warned the Delhi pitch “could explode” later in the Test match.
“When you go down this track it does look like a second (or) third day wicket,” Hayden said.
“Muddy conditions and big plates … I think this wicket could explode on day three.
“Dusty, dry and it’s going to turn.”
Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green were unable to recover from injury in time while Scott Boland was dropped meaning Australia heads into the match with three spinners and Cummins to bowl pace.
Matthew Renshaw was axed after his dismal performance in the first Test.
Head was a shock omission from the first side despite being ranked No. 4 in the ICC rankings and having been one of Australia’s best performers in the past year.
Kuhnemann, meanwhile, follows Todd Murphy as the second debutant of the series. He has played 13 first class matches and has 35 wickets at an average of 34.80. He was the leading wicket-taker among spinners in the Sheffield Shield in 2021/22.
His selection is a big blow to Ashton Agar’s Test future who was picked ahead of Kuhnemann in the squad.
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Meanwhile, Warner retained his spot despite conjecture over the future.
“I’m not a selector. I don’t think they’ve had a meeting but I’m sure Davey will be there,” Cummins said on Thursday.
“You saw this year at the Boxing Day Test when he puts pressure back on the opposition he’s pretty hard to bowl to. You don’t get as many good balls, so he knows that. I’m sure that’d be part of his plan,” said Cummins.
“He has been batting really well here. Even in the lead-up I thought he was fantastic.
“I know there’s a lot of talk about spin bowling through the middle, but with that new ball it’s sometimes the hardest time to bat as well.”
Veteran cricket report Robert Craddock, however, said “tough conversations” were on the horizon should Warner fail again.
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“Warner appears likely to be retained for the Delhi Test and, for all of his struggles apart from his recent double century in Melbourne, that would be a fair call given his exceptional overall record for Australia,” he wrote in The Australian.
“If he fails in this Test, Warner is still likely to get another one.
“Tough conversations are looming but Australia is willing Warner towards a farewell Ashes tour this year and he will not be axed without the deepest consideration.”
Australian legend Allan Border, meanwhile, called on the tourists to go with three fast men at the expense of first Test hero Todd Murphy.
“We tend to sort of look at that ‘the pitches are going to turn, let’s go with a couple of spinners’,” Border said on SEN.
“I think we should go the other way, go with our strengths — go with the fast bowlers and bowl to certain plans to their batsmen. Subtle change in tactics, go with the three quickies and the one spinner. That formula has worked well for us generally.
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“When we’ve done well in India in the past, McGrath and Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie, fast bowlers have done a really good job for us. And on the back of that our batsmen have done a good job making a decent sort of score. You can’t win games like we did in the first Test match.
“Well done to young (Todd) Murphy, it’s going to be a tough decision to leave him out, I know the wicket is going to turn but I just reckon the formula for us to be successful (is) three quickies and one spinner.
“Really work hard on your field positions … Just bowl stump to stump and be relentless with that sort of tactic, I think that is going to be better for us than trying to beat them with spin, we’ve tried that forever and ever, and it hasn’t worked.
“That formula to me just isn’t working, and we need to go back to what does work and that is with the quickies.”
The second Test get underway at 3pm.
AUSTRALIAN XI
David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (c), Matthew Kuhnemann, Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon
INDIAN XI
Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (WK), Ravi Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.
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