India stand-in captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and had no hesitation in electing to bat in the second Test against Australia at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Friday.
Regular captain Anil Kumble, as expected, pulled out of the match after failing to recover from his shoulder injury. His place in the team was taken by uncapped leg spinner Amit Mishra.
This is Dhoni's second Test as captain after he led the team against South Africa in Kanpur earlier this year.
Australia handed 23-year-old pacer Peter Siddle his debut after Stuart Clark was ruled out due to an elbow injury.
Teams:
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain & w/k), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma.
Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Matthew Hayden, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (w/k), Cameron White, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle.