Langer gives Perth pitch a big tick

Australia coach Justin Langer has given a resounding tick of approval to the spicy pitch served up by Perth Stadium's curators for the inaugural Test match at the venue.

The home side claimed 5-28 in a stunning bowling display on day five to complete an emphatic 146-run victory over India and level the Border-Gavaskar series with two Tests remaining.

The Perth deck was expected to favour the pace bowlers, with India opting against playing a front-line spinner, but Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon secured the player of the match award after grabbing eight wickets, including 5-67 in the first innings.

The fast bowlers were also more than a handful, however, with India pair Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami bowling with venom, particularly in Australia's second innings, while star trio Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins were all effective.

Langer declared the Perth Stadium pitch "has to" retain the same characteristics for Tests in coming years.

"A couple did something off the cracks, but that's OK," Langer said on Fox Cricket after tasting his first Test match victory since taking over as coach.

"It's like if you play on other wickets and it spins every now and then, it might spin out of the rough.

"It had everything. Nathan Lyon was probably the difference.

"He was not only man of the match, but we selected the spinner (and) India didn't. We saw what a great influence he had on the game.

"It spun, it bounced, it was fast, there was bounces, it swung a bit.

"Anyone who says there's anything wrong with that wicket, they must have been watching a different game."

India skipper Virat Kohli was the only player to reach three figures on a tough surface for batters.

Australia's Marcus Harris and Lyon both copped helmet blows, while Aaron Finch was sent to hospital for x-rays after being struck on the glove by Shami.

Shami destroyed Australia in the second innings with a six-wicket haul.

"Shami's spell after lunch (on Monday) … he's not renowned as an ultra-aggressive bowler, but it was ultra-aggressive, and it was nervous to watch," Langer said.

The pitch revived memories of years gone by when the WACA had a reputation as one of the fastest and bounciest wickets in the world.

The greenish pitch at Perth Stadium attracted praise for its ability to maintain the balance between bat and ball.

"For so long at the WACA Test match it's almost part of the drama or theatre – it's going to be a fast, bouncy WACA wicket," Langer said.

"We probably haven't seen it for a long time, but we saw it here. That was like going back to the heyday of fast WACA wickets."

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Australia win by 146 runs

Dec 26-30: Third Test, MCG

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar