Bumrah leads India fightback as Australia crumble in first Test

India roared back into the first Test against Australia on Friday after being skittled for 150, taking seven wickets in the final session to put themselves in the box seat after a riveting opening day in Perth.

At the close the hosts were in disarray on 67-7 after Jasprit Bumrah demolished the Australian top order in a devastating spell to end the day with 4-17.

Alex Carey was unbeaten on 19 and Mitchell Starc not-out six.

After opting to bat the visitors were blown away for 150, no match for the hosts’ lethal pace attack with Josh Hazlewood taking 4-29.

Impressive debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy (41) and flamboyant Rishabh Pant (37) showed some spirit but once again superstar Virat Kohli flopped, out for five.

The 36-year-old has only managed two Test centuries in the last five years, with questions mounting over whether he still warrants selection.

But Australia fared no better in reply.

Captain Bumrah removed rookie opener Nathan McSweeney lbw for 10, another headache for a team struggling to find a decent replacement for the retired David Warner.

Marnus Labuschagne had a massive letoff two balls later, with Kohli putting down a sitter in the slips, leaving Bumrah with his head in his hands.

But India quickly snared another breakthrough with Kohli this time holding the catch off Bumrah to remove Usman Khawaja (8), and when Steve Smith was trapped lbw next ball, it was game on.

Harshit Rana clean-bowled Travis Head (11) for a maiden Test wicket before Mitchell Marsh departed for five, caught low in the slips by KL Rahul off Mohammed Siraj.

Labuschagne rode his luck for 52 balls to eke out two runs before he too was on his way, lbw to Siraj, then Bumrah returned to dismiss skipper Pat Cummins (3).

Fragile

After a crushing 3-0 home series defeat by New Zealand, India sprung a surprise by dropping veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, allrounder Ravindra Jadeja and middle-order batsman Sarfaraz Khan.

Coupled with the absence of opener and regular skipper Rohit Sharma following the birth of a child, and without injured number three Shubman Gill, it left them a fragile batting lineup.

Yashasvi Jaiswal left without scoring in the third over, edging an attempted drive off Starc to McSweeney, who did well to collect low at gully.

With Gill missing, left-hander Devdutt Padikkal came in at three, facing 23 deliveries without scoring before his luck ran out when Hazlewood steamed in and enticed an edge taken by wicketkeeper Carey.

That brought Kohli to the crease, in dire need of a big score.

Despite a stellar record in Australia he lasted just 12 balls before fending off a climbing Hazlewood thunderbolt that took an edge to Khawaja at slip.

India’s woes worsened when opener Rahul (26) feathered to Carey on the cusp of lunch.

Pant and Dhruv Jurel needed to hang around after the break.

But Jurel, preferred to Sarfaraz, survived barely 10 minutes before succumbing to Marsh on 11, getting an edge that carried to third slip Labuschagne.

Marsh struck again to account for Washington Sundar to leave the visitors staring down the barrel on 73-6 before Pant and Reddy led a mini recovery.

Cummins finally ended Pant’s exploits, taken sharply at slip by Smith, which signalled India’s demise.

The visitors have won their last two Border-Gavaskar trophy series in Australia.

Perth is the first of five Tests in the series.

India win toss, bat first

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)