Too soon to call for change at the top: Ponting

Test great Ricky Ponting says it is too early to call for a change at the top of Australia's batting order despite the new-look opening combination of Joe Burns and Matthew Wade falling cheaply in Adelaide.

Burns and Wade each made eight on day two of the first Vodafone Test, both out lbw to gun India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, as Australia were bowled out for 191 to hand the visitors a 53-run first-innings lead.

Ponting had backed Burns to retain his place in the Test XI even though the Queenslander had scored only 62 runs in nine first-class innings leading into the series opener.

But having watched the right-hander face 41 deliveries in 79 minutes at the crease on Friday, Ponting says it's "pretty clear" that Burns is "struggling".

"You can see that he's battling," Ponting told cricket.com.au.

"His balance didn't look quite right. He's playing around his front pad a lot as probably highlighted by his dismissal.

"I was on air at the time he got out and I just kept saying the longer he stays there it's going to change, he'll get a couple in the middle and all of a sudden it's a different game and as soon as I said that he was out next ball.

"You can see that he's just fighting himself a little bit.

"Normally with Joe Burns, he might not be the prettiest player but he's normally putting pressure back on the bowlers and looking to be aggressive and I think they bowled well to him today but probably not quite enough intent (from Burns)."

While Burns and Wade, who faced 51 balls in his maiden innings opening the batting at Test or first-class level, found scoring tough against a well-drilled India seam attack, they weren't the only ones.

Steve Smith made one from 29 balls, Travis Head scored seven from 20 and debutant Cameron Green was out for 11 from 24 when he was spectacularly caught by India captain Virat Kohli.

Even Marnus Labuschagne, who was out in the middle for almost three hours, scored at a strike rate of 39.5 for his 47 and offered three chances to the visitors before was out lbw to paceman Umesh Yadav.

Only captain Tim Paine scored at a strike rate higher than 46 from the top seven batters, with his unbeaten 73 from 99 balls dragging his side within striking distance of India's total.

Burns will have a second chance to bat in the coming days and only then can informed calls be made about his immediate playing future, Ponting says.

And given Burns played his part in Australia's Test team reaching the summit of the official rankings, Ponting says the best team in the world might accommodate their opener while he works through his lean run with the bat.

"This is why I was pushing for Burns to play this game, this team is the No.1-ranked team in the world," Ponting said.

"When you are that, you're going to carry players at different times. 

"Players are going to have ups and downs but they've been on a good run, they've won a lot of games, a lot of series. 

"I don't always see the need for change. Let's wait and see what happens in the end.

"I think the picture will be a lot clearer for all of us at the end of this Test match, what they might need for Melbourne and if someone in the current team needs to go out we'll know then but there's still a long way to go in the game."

Vodafone Test Series v India 2020-21

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (c) (first Test only), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj

First Test: December 17-21, Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (day-night)

Second Test: December 26-30, MCG, 10.30am AEDT

Third Test: January 7-11, SCG, 10.30am AEDT

Fourth Test: January 15-19, Gabba, 11am AEDT