Brilliant Bumrah leads his Baby Blues from the front

Asked to captain a team featuring two debutant bowlers, two of their regular top-three batters missing, and two of their all-time leading wicket takers axed, Jasprit Bumrah could hardly have responded more emphatically on Friday. 

Mitchell Starc believes he would "snap" if he attempted to copy Bumrah's action, but it was Australia's top-order that was fractured on Friday thanks to the India captain's inspired spell in the Border Gavaskar Trophy series opener at Perth Stadium.

In the space of a couple of hours, Bumrah's Baby Blues side featuring six players aged 25 or younger had turned the lowest first-innings score ever at this venue into a tally Australia are now relying on their tail to get close to.

First-gamer Nitish Kumar Reddy, who top scored for the visitors having been inspired by Gautam Gambhir's advice to take on short-pitched bowling as if he were facing a firing squad, revealed Bumrah had implored his charges to use the surface's sideways movement after they had been skittled for just 150 inside the first two sessions of their tour.

"To hit on the areas exactly," was Bumrah's message according to Reddy. "It was getting (plenty of) off-the-pitch movement, so don't try too much to swing the ball, just keep it in that area, let the ball do the work."

Bumrah then walked the talk.

Borderline unplayable with the new ball, the 30-year-old held figures of 3-9 after his first spell, and then 4-17 from 10 overs at stumps.

He decimated Australia's top-order, dismissing their two most prolific Test run scorers of the last three years – Usman Khawaja (for 8) and Steve Smith (golden duck) – while also making it a debut innings to forget for Nathan McSweeney (10). 

The kicker was knocking over his opposite number Pat Cummins (3) before the close of play to leave the hosts trailing by 83 runs and all their recognised batters in the sheds.

It was a statement performance, and not just with the ball. 

When tense words were exchanged between Mohammad Siraj and Marnus Labuschagne, Bumrah spoke to umpire Chris Gaffaney and ensured his pace partner instead channelled his spirit into picking up two late wickets of his own.

That's not to mention the tough task of leading a side that had made a host of bold calls at the selection table with regular captain Rohit Sharma missing and No.3 bat Shubman Gill injured.

Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, the reigning Border Gavaskar Trophy players of the series, were both axed. As was Sarfaraz Khan, who scored 150 in a Test against New Zealand only last month. 

But Bumrah, in just his second game filling in as India skipper, looked a natural in a job he has proudly admitted he wanted to do since he was a child.

He showed his rare ability to threaten the stumps in Australia – more than half his wickets here have been bowled or lbw, a much higher rate than most other successful seamers on these shores – as he trapped both McSweeney and Smith lbw.

While his speeds rarely topped the 140kph-mark, his forward release point that has been identified as a major weapon in rushing batters was surely a factor causing Labuschagne all sorts of issues, having him dropped by Virat Kohli at second slip before he had scored.

"He's obviously got a fair bit of hyperextension in that elbow and does things a lot of actions won't let you do," said Mitchell Starc, who was 6no at stumps having earlier returned 2-14 from his 11 overs.

"There's no surprise he's been a fantastic bowler across the formats for a long time. Again his skills were on show today. 

"I'm sure there's something in that release point that's significant to his action. It's something a lot of people can't do – I'm certainly not going to go and try it. I'd probably snap."

The day-one performances of the 21-year-old Reddy, the youngest member of the India Test squad, and fellow seamer Harshit Rana (22) was an early sign Gambhir's eagerness to refresh his side with youth has some merit.

Rana kept Australia's top-order under the pump after being thrown the ball first-change to back up the early work of openers Bumrah and Siraj when he clean-bowled Travis Head from around the wicket.

His maiden wicket might have been India's most important on day one given Head was player of the match in these rivals' two most consequential games in recent times, the finals of the World Test Championship and the ODI World Cup.

Reddy had earlier fulfilled his childhood dream when he was presented his cap by Virat Kohli.  

"It was a great feeling. I always dreamed of playing for (the) Indian cricket (team)," said Reddy, who was mentored by Cummins at his IPL team Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier this year.

"It was a fantastic moment to receive (my cap) from Virat – he was my idol from when I started cricket. Getting the cap from him was a happy moment for me and I want to continue in this way."

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, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, 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