PERTH, Australia (AP) — Australia skipper Tim Paine won the toss Friday and elected to bat first in the second cricket test against India, the first to be played at the new Perth Stadium.
While Australia retained an unchanged XI following a 31-run loss in the first test in Adelaide, India picked an all-swing attack after injuries forced two changes.
Virat Kohli's lineup is aiming to become the first from India to win a test series in Australia and held the No. 1-ranking heading into the four-test series in Australia.
Injuries to batsman Rohit Sharma and offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin forced the changes. Batsman Hanuma Vihari replaced Sharma in the middle order, while swing bowler Umesh Yadav came in for Ashwin to form a four-man pace attack alongside Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumra.
While Aswin played a key role in India's series opening win, the win was largely setup by the swing and seam attack.
The Australian batting lineup, missing the suspended Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, will be under pressure to perform at the world's newest test cricket venue.
The pace attack will relish the conditions on a very hot day when temperature is expected to reach 39 Celsius (102 Fahrenheit) with the first use of a green-top wicket. The drop-in pitch is expected to produce the traditional pace and bounce that was a characteristic of the old WACA pitches.
___
Australia: Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Tim Paine (captain), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, K.L. Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav.
Umpires: Chris Gaffeney, New Zealand, Kumar Dharmasena, Sri Lanka. Television umpire: Nigel Long, England. Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle, Sri Lanka.
___
More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Disclaimer: This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Associated Press (AP) wire.
