Australia (Playing XI): Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah(c), Mohammed Siraj

India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj(c)

Pat Cummins: We were 50-50, either way we are pretty happy. Feel well placed, pretty fresh. Any format we play seems fiercely fought.

India have won the toss and have opted to bat

Jasprit Bumrah: We are going to bat first, looks like a good wicket. Very confident with our preparation. We played a Test match here in 2018

India have won the toss and have opted to bat

Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar Reddy have been presented their maiden Test caps by Virat Kohli.

balaji: Would love to see Washington sundar as a lone spinner at some point in this series!

Vigneshwar R: The Australian Test Summer has long been the graveyard for many careers, where twilight transitions into retirement. This time, a few contenders are primed to make that leap as well.

Dee Jay: Brace yourselves for a 5-match series in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy! For the first time ever! The previous 4 times it was a 4-match series, and India won 2-1 every single time.

Manoj Gyawali: Things have been a bit harsh on Kl Rahul, last series dropped after first match was batting at 5-6, now has been asked to open in these conditions where he might be dropped when Rohit comes back.

In contrast, the composition of India's team will be something to keep an eye on because of the players they are missing. All indications from the buildup point to KL Rahul opening with Yashasvi Jaiswal, with Devdutt Padikkal expected to slot in at No.3 in the absence of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Rohit stayed in India for the birth of his second child, and is expected to join the team in a couple of days, while Gill suffered a fractured thumb during practice. There are also strong indications that Nitish Kumar Reddy could be set for his Test debut today. If that's the case, India's bowling attack will be three fast bowlers, a spinner and Reddy to do the holding role. Who will be the fast bowlers, though, along with captain Jasprit Bumrah? Prasidh Krishna, Mukesh Kumar and Harshit Rana have all been impressive since they arrived in Australia. But there's Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep as well. We'll have to wait a little longer for the confirmation.

9.30am local, 7am IST: Not long to go for the toss now. so let's get into the makeup of the two teams. A lot of the buildup surrounding Australia was about who will open with Usman Khawaja? The answer to that has been revealed as 25-year-old Nathan McSweeney, who generally bats at No.3 for South Australia. He was impressive in one of the fixtures against India A, and got the nod ahead of some other candidates who were also in the reckoning. Rest of the Australian lineup has looked settled for a long time now with their bowling attack of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon being one of the most experienced quartets in Test history.

Pathikrit: Watching and following this from the UK at 2 AM. Only Test Cricket and BGT can make me stay up this late!

Vimal GV: Two fast bowlers captaining their respective sides at the place considered as home of fast bowlers - We are in for a hell of a ride!

teja: My favorite moment in BGT will be forever pant hitting those winning runs in Gabba.

There has been some unseasonal rain in the lead-up to this Test. Don't think there's going to be any problem over these next five days, but it does make you wonder if the rain has affected pitch preparation at all. Curator Isaac McDonald has said there's going to be a good amount of grass cover, and the general expectation is of a fast and bouncy pitch where the ball will also nip around to assist the seamers. Will it also deteriorate to the extent it did against Pakistan last year? McDonald doesn't believe so because of the way the weather has been.

9.10am local, 6.40am IST: To kick things off, we are at the spiritual home of fast bowling as the series gets going in Perth. Home to the great Dennis Lillee, and to Curtly Ambrose's legendary spell of 1/7 (or 7/1 - however the Aussies want to write it), fast bowlers have made life difficult for many-a-batter in Perth, although much of that has happened on the opposite bank of the Swan river at the WACA. This new Perth Stadium has witnessed only four Tests, the first of which incidentally involved India back in 2018. It was the scene of one of Virat Kohli's finest knocks at the international level as he made a superb hundred on a pitch with pace, bounce and quite a bit of grass.

Nishant Tyagi: Really excited to see how two fast bowlers leading their respective teams tweak their strategies as the situation demands! Sets the template for more fast bowlers as captains in the coming times. This is gonna be one heck of a match for sure!!