India spring selection shock plus two debutants in Perth

7h ago Louis Cameron, at Perth Stadium

India overhaul their bowling line-up for Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener in Perth with two players handed Test caps

Debutant Nathan McSweeney has received his Baggy Green but will wait for his first hit in Test cricket, as India made the stunning call to drop both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in Perth.

Off-spinning allrounder Washington Sundar has remarkably been picked ahead of both Ashwin and Jadeja, who have 855 Test wickets between them, as stand-in India captain Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and elected to bat in the NRMA Insurance series opener.

Australia: Nathan McSweeney, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

India: Yashavi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj

There were emotional scenes before play on day one as McSweeney, flanked by family members including grandfather Terry, parents Scott and Carolyn and partner Freya Young, was presented his Baggy Green by Darren Lehmann.

McSweeney is the 467th Australian man to play Test cricket.

Darren Lehmann presents Nathan McSweeney with Baggy Green No.467 // Getty

But Friday morning's major talking point was the exclusion of Ashwin and Jadeja, with recently-installed coach Gautam Gambhir making an extraordinary selection call that includes picking two debutant fast bowlers.

It is a remarkably young India side that features six players 25 years old or younger.

Nitish Kumar Reddy (21 years old) received his cap from Virat Kohli before play, while fellow debutant Harshit Rana (22) got his from Ashwin.
Back-up keeper Dhruv Jurel (23) has been listed to play as a specialist bat at No.6, replacing Sarfraz Khan despite the latter having made a century three Tests ago, while Devdutt Padikkal (24) has replaced the injured Shubman Gill.

Sundar is 25, significantly younger than veteran pair Ashwin (38) and Jadeja (35).

The pivot to youth is a major gamble for Gambhir, who addressed his team with a steely glare before play on Friday. The tourists are without captain Rohit Sharma, with KL Rahul taking his spot at the top of the order.

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NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

First Test: November 22-26: Perth Stadium, 1.20pm AEDT

Second Test: December 6-10: Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (D/N)

Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11.20am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad: (first Test only) Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal