Gambhir’s selection, poor batting performance under the scanner as Hazlewood and Starc bowled India out for 150 in Perth

Hazlewood took 4-29 while Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Marsh and Pat Cummins took two wickets each.

After a crushing 3-0 home series loss to New Zealand, India pulled off a surprise at the toss by fielding veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and middle-order batsman Sarfaraz Khan.

Coupled with the absence of opening and permanent captain Rohit Sharma following the birth of his child and the absence of injured number three Shubman Gill, India left India with a fragile batting line-up that Australia took advantage of.

Bumrah’s decision to bat wasn’t the only eyebrow-raising move Team India made on Friday. The Indian team made some bold decisions, largely influenced by the intuition of head coach Gautam Gambhir. Two players – Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana – for which he vouched so strongly during the selection meeting, received his Test caps while young Washington Sundar was given preference over veterans Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.

The surprises didn’t end there. Despite having an opener in Abhimanyu Easwaran as a reserve, India selected Devdutt Padikkal from the A team and played him ahead of the Bengal cricketer.

India’s supreme order is collapsing

After four wickets fell before lunch, including Virat Kohli’s five, Pant and Dhruv Jurel had to stay close.

But that was not to be, with Jurel favoring Khan, who lasted just 10 minutes before falling to Australian T20 captain Marsh in the 11th over.

Filling the all-rounder role left vacant by the injured Cameron Green, Marsh tempted Jurel into a thick edge that led to Marnus Labuschagne’s third slip.

He struck again soon after, removing Washington Sundar with his glove towards keeper Alex Carey, leaving the visitors looking down the barrel at 73-6.

Pant led a slight recovery to take them above 100 after surviving a difficult catch.

Thanks to Reddy’s partnership, runs began to flow more freely, including the first six matches.

Cummins finally put an end to Pant’s exploits, which were taken harshly by Steve Smith, before Hazlewood removed Harshit Rana (7) and Bumrah (8).

Earlier, Yashasvi Jaiswal had gone without scoring in the third over, ahead of an attempted drive off Starc to debutant Nathan McSweeney, who did well to score low at gully.

With Gill out, left-hander Devdutt Padikkal took the field at three and almost immediately suffered a huge lbw scream.

The attack in Australia was in full swing, but in India it was moving slowly.

A nervy Padikkal fought 23 deliveries without scoring before his luck ran out when Hazlewood came in and gained an advantage which Carey easily exploited.

This has left Kohli in a quandary, in dire need of a big score after just two Test centuries in the last five years and with questions mounting over whether he still deserves selection.

Despite a stellar record in Australia, he never felt comfortable and lasted just 12 balls before deflecting Hazlewood’s rising thunderbolt for five, giving the edge to Usman Khawaja at slip.

India’s problems worsened when opener K.L. Rahul lost to Carey on the 26th.

The visitors have won their last two Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia.