Jadeja and his sub checkmate Aussies in first T20I

India's former junior chess champion Yuzvendra Chahal checkmated Australia when he came off the bench to bowl India to an unlikely win in the opening match of the three-game Dettol T20I Series.

Chahal, who represented his country at the world under-12 chess championships almost two decades ago, wasn't part of India's starting XI at Manuka Oval but was swung into the game in controversial circumstances when fellow spinner Ravindra Jadeja was ruled out with concussion.

The super-sub snared 3-25 from his four overs, the best bowling return of the match, to be named player of the match despite being rushed into the line-up at the change of innings to the clear displeasure of the Australian camp.

Despite an impressive all-round effort from Moises Henriques, who had warmed up for his first T20 outing for Australia since 2017 by playing chess with Steve Smith over lunch in Canberra, Australia's chase of 162 faltered after a bright start.

The regular loss of wickets throughout the middle overs, crowned by Henriques' dismissal for 30 as the run rate climbed, saw Australia finish 11 runs short of their target, their anguish being compounded by an injury to skipper Aaron Finch.

But it was the intrigue surrounding Chahal's sudden insertion into the game during the innings break that proved as decisive as it was divisive.

Jadeja had scored 20 from 16 deliveries, and India's innings had found little fluency when the spin-bowling allrounder clutched his right hamstring upon aiming a hefty heave at Josh Hazlewood and scampering through for a second run.

After several minutes of medical treatment, in which the 31-year-old initially indicated he felt the impingement might be no more serious than cramp, the injury was strapped and Jadeja resumed batting.

He was clearly hampered in his running between wickets, but the mishap only served to heighten his hitting skills as he blasted Hazlewood's next three deliveries for 6, 4 and 4.

But it was the second ball of the innings' ultimate over bowled by Mitchell Starc that launched the controversy.

In trying to send Starc over the mid-wicket fence, Jadeja top-edged the ball directly into his protective batting helmet with such force the ball flew over Henriques' head at backward point, who nearly pulled in a one-handed catch as he tumbled backwards.

Jadeja hobbled through for a single, but showed no immediate ill-effects from the head blow and did not undergo a standing concussion test as is standard practice when a player suffers such a knock while batting.

The India allrounder added a further nine runs from the final three balls he faced from Starc, but as his teammates prepared to begin their bowling innings, word filtered through to the Australian rooms that Jadeja was ruled out and replaced by leg-spinner Chahal.

Under the protocols for concussion substitutes, Chahal was permitted to bowl a full complement of four overs, which would clearly have been beyond Jadeja due to his hamstring problem.

Australia's frustration at the diagnosis was betrayed by coach Justin Langer's exchange with match referee – and his former Test teammate – David Boon shortly before openers Finch and D'Arcy Short began their run chase.

But Finch was soon in strife, seemingly suffering a problem with his hip flexor or buttock on his right leg which – rather like Jadeja – only served to fuel his belligerence.

The new opening pair, thrown together because of the groin injury sustained by David Warner last Sunday, celebrated with a 50-run stand inside the six-over Powerplay.

They should have been separated next over when Finch (on 33) was missed by Manish Pandey diving to his right at backward point, and again next delivery when Virat Kohli camped beneath a fly ball offered by Short (18) that seemed to clip the peak of the India skipper's cap before bursting through his hands.

The fact it was Chahal who secured the breakthrough with the fourth ball of his opening over in a game he wasn't listed to play only added to the bubbling discontentment in the Australian dug-out.

When the substitute spinner claimed Australia's pre-eminent batter Steve Smith in his next over – to the second brilliant diving effort from India's outfielders – the evening's storyline had been inked.

Glenn Maxwell went to a canny lbw review called by Kohli on a delivery from debutant left-armer Thangarasu Natarajan that looked to have pitched outside leg stump as Australia lost their third wicket in less than three overs.

Short had laboured to find timing in only his third top-level innings of the summer and holed out for 34, before vice-captain Matthew Wade fell in similar circumstances off Chahal's bowling to effectively end Australia's hopes and exacerbate their heartburn.

It capped a significant turnaround after the home team looked to be in control for much of their bowling innings and in the initial stages of their run chase.

Australia's revamped approach to T20 cricket was reflected in the deployment of Test strike pair Starc and Hazlewood with the new ball for just the second time in the shortest format.

It yielded early success, as the pair conceded just six runs from the first two overs as India openers Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul battled to pierce the inner fielding ring.

The innings was 15 deliveries old before Rahul posted the first boundary, a slice over third man that proved more effective than convincing but Starc struck back two balls later when he flattened Dhawan's off stump.

The left-hander's removal brought Kohli to the crease, the all-time leading run scorer in T20I cricket and one of only two players – with Pakistan's Babar Azam – to have scored more than 1,000 runs in the format while boasting an average above 50.

Kohli had only just settled into stride when Mitchell Swepson - a late call-up in place of the injured Ashton Agar - took the ball for his first over in T20 internationals for two and a half years, and betrayed his nerves by dragging down his first three deliveries.

But while his fourth was also banged into the pitch, it fizzed through quickly enough to surprise India's batting genius, whose attempted pull shot hit high on the bat and spooned obligingly back to the bowler.

Kohli stared in apparent disbelief at the pitch before he let slip a bemused smile as Swepson celebrated with teammates his third T20I wicket – a handy hat-trick of Kohli as well as England power pair Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan.

Swepson's second over brought another series of drag-downs that allowed Sanju Samson to flex his considerable muscle and continue the impressive six-hitting form he showed repeatedly in the recent Indian Premier League.

But every time India seemed poised to take the initiative, Australia instead snared a wicket and effectively applied the brakes.

The home team's pre-match planning could scarcely have foreshadowed four of India's top five batters back in the sheds for scores below 25, much less single-figure returns for Dhawan (1), Kohli (9) and Manish Pandey (2 off 8 deliveries).

With Pandey and then Hardik Pandya unable to rotate the strike, Rahul felt compelled to chance his arm against Henriques – who returned his best bowling figures (3-22) in his first T20I in more than three years - and paid the price.

Sean Abbott slid in from the long-on boundary to accept Rahul's lofted drive, and given Pandey had fallen in the interceding over from Adam Zampa, India had surrendered 3-6 in the space of 16 balls.

It was a stumble that seemed set to define the innings, until Jadeja launched his wounded counter-surge and effectively lit a fuse that burned through the remainder of the series opener.

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), D'Arcy Short, Matthew Wade (wk), Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Moises Henriques, Sean Abbott, Mitch Starc, Mitch Swepson, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

India XI: India XI: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Thangarasu Natarajan

Dettol T20 INTL Series v India 2020

Australia T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey , Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Sams, D'Arcy Short, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa

India T20I squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, T Natarajan

First T20: India won by 11 runs

Second T20: December 6, SCG, 7.10pm AEDT

Third T20: December 8, SCG, 7.10pm AEDT