Melbourne: India were 134/2 at tea on the opening day of the third Test on Boxing Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here Wednesday.
India lost just the wicket of Mayank Agarwal (76) in the second session of play, while Cheteshwar Pujara was batting on 33 when the break was taken.
Pacer Pat Cummins, who earlier dismissed opener Hanuma Vihari (8) in the morning session, also accounted for the wicket of the debutant opener.
The visitors added 66 runs in the afternoon session, thanks to a crucial 83-run partnership between Mayank and Pujara.
Brief Scores: India 134/2 (Mayank Agarwal 76, Cheteshwar Pujara 33 batting; Pat Cummins 2/24) vs Australia at Tea Day 1.
India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat.
The tourists handed a debut to the opener, Mayank Agarwal, while also bringing in left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja in place of injured off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Australia, however, has not tinkered much with their winning combination in the Perth Test except for one major change.
Mitchell Marsh is back in the playing XI after being dropped for the first two Tests while Peter Handscomb was benched in the huge Boxing Day Test.
Australia: Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (C & WK), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.
India: Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
IANS
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