Australia v India Test LIVE updates: Aussies lose Warner, Khawaja early; selection bombshell as Head dropped

Indian star Virat Kohli has dropped Steve Smith after a difficult chance at first slip.

Smith swung hard outside his off-stump to a spinning ball and it went fast to Kohli’s right hand, but he couldn’t grasp it.

Meanwhile, former Australian opener turned commentator Matthew Hayden says the best time of the day to bat in Nagpur is right now.

Hayden, while admitting conditions were still a challenge, believes this time of day will be the most fruitful for Australia and that Smith and Marnus Labuschagne are the ideal pair to take advantage.

“This is coming into the best time of day to bat,” Hayden said on the Fox Sports coverage.

Australia are 2-35 with Smith on six and Labuschagne on 19.

I’ve had a bit of time to make a bit of sense of Travis Head’s shock axing. It’s a brutal call but there’s logic behind it. Let’s look at some numbers.

Here is the case against the decision. Since the start of the 2021/22 Ashes, Head is averaging 54 in 14 games with three tons. He is in career-best form and batted with confidence and authority at home, where he is averaging 73.5 in that period.

But this might tell you why selectors have let him go. Head’s numbers in Asia are mediocre. In seven games, he has just 213 runs at 21.3 for one half-century. That knock, a 72, was in his debut Test against Pakistan in Dubai.

His performance on last year’s tour of Sri Lanka would not have inspired much faith either, when he made six, 12 and five.

Matthew Renshaw was impressive as a 20-year-old on his first tour of India six years ago, so he knows what local conditions will be like. His 68 on a raging turner in Pune lingers in the mind.

And Peter Handscomb, an excellent player of spin, also has runs on the board from the 2017 tour.

Being a right-hander would also have helped him on a pitch which is expected to be more difficult for the lefties.

Australia are 2/29.

Axar Patel is troubling the Aussies with his left-arm spin.

He doesn’t spin it as much as his teammates but he is finding some lovely shape and asking some serious questions of the tourists.

He beat the bat to start this over and beat the keeper at the same time with the ball going for byes.

Smith has started very slowly but is taking a sensible approach given how challenging the conditions are.

Australia are 2-29 with Smith on six and Labuschagne on 15.

First half hour had Australia losing wickets to late swing and lower bounce – two things they did not see much of on home soil this summer.

Shami and Siraj are top-class pace bowlers, as the latter showed in particular in Australia in 2020-21.

Usman Khawaja and David Warner will regret being a bit slow with feet and hands in the early overs.

Spin, in the form of Ravindra Jadeja, arrived for the seventh over of the morning.

Australia are 2-26 from nine overs.

So we only had two spinners for an over as they were both used to allow Siraj to switch to the other end.

He is now firing away from the same end Shami was moving the ball around from.

Steve Smith has also stepped away from a ball after having something enter his eye-line.

Australia 2-26.

We are under 30 minutes into this Test match and India have spinners bowling at both ends.

Axar Patel is bowling his left-arm spinners at one end and Ravindra Jadeja is on at the other end.

Shami and Siraj have done their job early and could argue for more overs, but it is clear this match will be won by the best-performing spinners.

Australia 2-26.

Just as it was during the Australian summer, Smith and Labuschagne are the key pair in this top order.

Both have been very active since coming to the wicket and there are runs to be scored on this opening morning.

But they have to keep their wits about them as Shami and Siraj are still making balls dart around or go low.

Labuschagne has edged low through a gap in the slip cordon twice and come up with boundaries.

He is on 12 from 12 balls, Smith is six from 11 balls as Australia sit on 2-24.