1st Test, India tour of Australia at Adelaide, Dec 6-10 2018

India's year of trying to conquer overseas challenges has reached Adelaide. Australia's year of turmoil has reached their first home Test series since the game was thrown into crisis. No one really knows who starts favourites, but never have India begun a series Down Under with such expectation that this could be their time.

It has felt a long build-up to this occasion for Australia - they have played in England, Zimbabwe, the UAE and faced South Africa and India this season in white-ball cricket before this much-anticipated duel. Their bowling attack has survived the turmoil which has cost a multitude of people their jobs, but plenty of questions remain about the batting they have put together for the start of the series.

Mitchell Marsh has been dropped in favour of frontline batsman Peter Handscomb, while Marcus Harris is confirmed for a debut opening the batting. That will be alongside Aaron Finch, with Usman Khawaja taking the No. 3 spot

Australia 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Marcus Harris, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Shaun Marsh, 5 Peter Handscomb, 6 Travis Head, 7 Tim Paine (capt & wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Adelaide's previous three Tests have been day-nighters, but India didn't fancy one of those on this tour so it's the ground's first traditional Test match since 2014 when these two sides last met. The surface looked dry the day before the match and there is hot weather predicted for the first day, then warm, sunny conditions throughout so spin could be a factor.

Virat Kohli: "We're not taking anything for granted. We just want to focus on our skills and what we need to do. We're looking to correct things that haven't gone right in the past."

STUMPS: India 250/9

That's some way to end the day for Australia. Pujara, with stumps just a few balls away, looks to steal a quick single and ensure he's batting when play resumes at the other end. But Pat Cummins has other ideas, a super swoop from mid on and an accurate throw while diving sees Pujara dismissed for a masterly 123.

Who's the best spinner: Nathan Lyon, R Ashwin, or the record-breaking Yasir Shah?

ndia
250
Australia
190/7 (86.2 ov)

Day 2 - Session 3: Australia trail by 60 runs with 3 wickets remaining in the innings

India lead by 166 runs with 7 wickets remaining

Puja 40* Rahane 1* Kohli 34

Stumps, Day 3.

India lead by 243