India vs Australia Highlights, 1st Test Day 1: AUS 67/7 vs IND at Stumps, trail by 83 runs in Perth

Well, we had 17 wickets in the day. It was entertaining and it was fast-food cricket. Perth curator has assured this wicket would not be as spicy as the one they used last year against Pakistan as it turned it has been more difficult strip to bat on. However, credit where credit is due. Josh Hazlewood was top notch in that morning session he stuck to his accuracy and reaped rewards. However, Jasprit Bumrah's spell was the spell to watch. Time and again the Indian wizard keeps delivering the goods for the side consistently when they are in trouble and he did it again today.

As per the game situation,, Australia is way behind given it is going to be a low-scoring affair. Unless Carey and Starc pull of a significant partnership India just might be on edge in this first game.

Bumrah gets Pat Cummins. It was a length ball and the Australian skipper drove the ball without any foot moment and the ball took the edge straight to the keeper. Australia have now lost seven wickets in a session to put things in perspective.

We are coming close to the day's play here the first instinct would be to survive for both batters. One thing which today has shown is yes, there are some top-quality bowlers on both these sides but also these are fragile batting lineups and not many runs can be expected from these teams. Alongside technique, it is also the question of temperament. The only batter who looked comfortable through the day facing pace was KL Rahul in the morning and to some extent Pant. None of the Australian batters looked comfortable on this seaming and swinging track.

Well, Marnus' resilience comes to an end. The ball came back in though he did read he was late on the ball and Siraj's delivery hit the pad and was given out on-field. Though it was sent upstairs there were three reds. Pat Cummins has walked into the middle along with Alex Carey he played a handy knock earlier this year in Christchurch to win a tight game against New Zealand. Today it is not about winning but surviving and getting as many runs as possible in this first innings. Ideally, take a lead but even getting closer to about 20-25 runs will help.

Bumrah has swapped ends here. He is coming from Rana's end at the moment. This will be an interesting final passage of play with about 30 minutes to go in the day's play. Australia have been in survival mode in this inning right from the first ball and they have to remain that way for the next 30 minutes. A thought though given how the wicket has played apart from Nitish we have not seen players try to counterattack. Travis Head did try but his innings did not last long however, given how frequently a batter is facing a wicket-tacking delivery, it might not be a bad ploy for Australia to give something back to India tonight score some quick runs, and take some momentum to the evening.

It is excellent line bowling from Siraj. He was not overtrying he just kept the bowl in the right areas ball after ball and induced the edge of Mitchell Marsh. Australia have lost half their sides here. Yes, Australia has bowled well in the morning but in this inning, Indian fast bowlers have given a masterclass on how to bowl on this wicket. Jasprit Bumrah is warming up and he might be smelling blood here. If he gets on a roll in one more spell it might be over for Australia by the end of the day's play and we might see India batting again tomorrow.

Since Bumrah's spell things have calmed down a bit here. Marnus after his initial jitters is now looking a touch comfortable. He is middling a lot more when he is defending and looking to find those gaps. The initial part of his innings was all about play and miss when Bumrah was operating and it felt like it is only a matter of time before he got out. But funny how cricket in this part of the world works once the batter spends time and gets himself in and the ball gets old the same batter who could not buy a run in the early part might end up scoring a massive ton. As we update Siraj picks up Marsh

It is the water break and India has bowled exceptionally well here. Australian batters would have expected a tough challenge but Bumrah with that new ball was way too good. The Indian skipper with the ball is in the form of a whole different level. However, India cannot get complacent here as both Mitchell Marsh and Marnus have the prerequisite skill set to see through this passage and hurt India later. Hence India would be hoping to at least pick two more wickets before the close of the play.

It was a cracking delivery from Rana the ball was pitched on middle and off and nipped slightly away to hit the top of the off-stump. This is an excellent start from Rana on debut. One worry, if there was any with regards to India bowling, was how other bowlers would operate apart from Bumrah and this inning thus far has answered. Bumrah has taken himself out of the attack and brought Siraj. It will be interesting to see what he is going to bring to the table here. He doesn't want to be left behind in the wickets column either.

Bumrah is into his sixth over and it will be interesting to see how the game unfolds when he takes himself out of the attack. The conventional way the skippers operate is to bring back Siraj who is the other best bowler in the attack from Bumrah's end or give Nitish Kumar Reddy his debut over. However, if Bumrah wants to try something highly unlikely give Washington Sundar a go. There are about 80 minutes left in the play and it might not be a bad ploy to bring in Sundar and settle him into a spell and bowling tight lines and lengths. Additionally, he would also enjoy the bounce on this surface. As we update Rana picks Travis Head.

The way Marnus has been playing here since coming in is indicative of the poor form he has been through in recent times. He is unable to read the deliveries which are going away and coming back in. Seems like he is reading the ball of length rather than of the hand and one of the remarkable features of Bumrah is his ability to make the ball do different things from the same length. It is an inswinger coming from the same length and an away-swinger from the length and to add more trouble to the batter he slips in the bumper and he a lethal yorker. Labuschange is looking horribly out of touch here at the moment.

Well, this is some response from the Indian skipper first it was Usman Khawaja who nicked one to slip after Bumrah decided that he would attack from around the wicket and then it was Steve Smith who did his customary shuffle however, missed the incoming delivery and was trapped in front of the wicket. This is some bowling from Bumrah. He is bowling at a different level from all the other bowlers who have bowled today. Travis Head has walked into the middle and India knows the left-hander all too well.

Bumrah is turning Marnus inside out here. He is probing around that off-stump channel and is hitting excellent lengths. While it is most of them going away Labuschange needs to be worried about the ones coming back in. He did bowl one did Bumrah which came back in however, it did a little too much. Labuschange has been short of runs in recent times and this is the least likely situation he wants himself to be involved in. But that is what Test cricket is all about going through difficult patches and capitalizing once you are in and the bowlers are tired.

Well, Bumrah has found his mark. First it was debutant McSweeny who got undone by the delivery which came back in sharply and was trapped in front of the wicket. He was not given out on-field however, Bumrah decided to go upstairs and it was three reds. Marnus has come into the middle and nicked one off to Virat Kohli at the second slip who had it in his hand for a long time but, managed to spill it. It would have been two wickets in a single over ideal start for India but not to be. India has to be very careful of their catching, especially with the low score they cant spill these opportunities.

Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have taken the new ball for India. The most important thing is they have to pick wickets and they have to come early and at the same time, they have to make sure that they are not over-trying and looking for those magic deliveries. As Australia has shown in the first innings it is about discipline. Once the ball is put in the right areas there is enough in the wicket with the new ball that it will do something. In addition to Bumrah and Siraj follow-up bowlers also need to be right up to the mark.

The only advantage is it is Day 1 wicket and it will respond to new ball and India has Bumrah. But will it work we have to wait and see. Even Australia would be aware that if they can negate Bumrah and Siraj to some extent runs are there for the taking from other end.

Josh Hazlewood's exceptional height and high release point give him a significant advantage as a bowler. His deliveries often bounce unexpectedly, hitting the top half of the bat and making it difficult for batsmen to time their shots. The ball that dismissed Virat Kohli is a prime example of this. While it wasn't excessively short, the extra bounce it generated from Hazlewood's height caught Kohli off guard, leading to his dismissal. (Read more from Sandip G)

Pat Cummins would be a happy man. Lost the toss and given the track record of the ground all India needed was one good partnership to get to a par score to win the game, which did not happen and they were bundled out for 150 before Tea. More than mistakes and technical flaws what was on display was the lack of preparation in that first innings. Australian bowlers did not have to do much all they had to do was get their lines and lengths and the wickets were there for the taking. It will be too much to expect Australia to bowl somewhere around that mark but what India can do is show some fight and restrict Australia to a reasonable total.

There is another wicket it is skipper Jasprit Bumrah who poked at a delivery outside the off-stump and got the edge. Hazlewood has picked up four wickets now it has been lovely bowling from the Aussie. Mohammad Siraj has walked into the middle we have a 30-minute extension as India has lost nine wickets. Given how the Aussies are bowling they might not need those 30 minutes either. As per India, the onus is on Nitish to score as many runs as possible. This is a below-par total unless something miraculous happens and India gets to around 200-mark from here.

Last, over against Cummins, Nitish has looked to slog a few, and seems like the message is now clear just to go after the bowling. There were also a few instances when Nitish opted not to take a single. This might be the final over before Tea.

It was a scramble seam delivery from Cummins which Pant tried to work on the leg side and got the leading edge to slip. It is nice that the Australian skipper has pulled his length back after that six and finally had the last laugh. As we update debutant Harshit Rana departs. He tried to guide the ball towards the third man of Josh Halewood and McSweeny at gully dived and the ball hit his hand and looped out however, Marnus standing next to him took a lovely reaction catch. It is a wicket of the fielders more than the bowlers. India have now lost eight wickets in no time.

This partnership is now getting concerning for Australia. They would not have minded it initially but on a surface like this it is partnerships like these make the difference and batters getting in can punish the bowlers. We are not there to that emergency state yet but given the range of shots both these batters possess things can go out of hand pretty quickly. And another concerning thing for Cummins at the moment is Lyon looking ineffective. The wicket is not assisting him much and he is not been able to keep a tap on runrate either. As we update Cummins picks Pant.

Rishabh Pant unleashed his first unorthodox shot and it came against Rishabh Pant. He went down on one knee and scooped the ball through the square leg for a six. Cummins has not been at his best today. He is conceding a few runs. He has been a tad bit fuller and Indian batters have not seemed to be much troubled against him. This partnership is growing nicely from the Indian perspective. It is not a 500-playing 500 game. 250-300 runs in the first innings here will give India a fighting chance. However, this partnership is crucial here to get those runs.

Nightmares for Nathan Lyon might be resurfacing in the last 20-25 minutes. He did bowl some lovely spells in the past against India but one of the major reason behind success of India in recent times can be attributed to India being able to deal with Lyon better in the last few tours and once again Nitish Reddy is being severe on him today and tactics seem to be the same. He is reverse sweeping the conventional length of Lyon which will force him to alter his length or alter the field or tactics which he is using. It is an interesting battle and something that might play a crucial role in where this Test match might head.

Nitish has reverse-swept Nathan Lyon here. This is good from the youngster he has picked the right bowler to attack. The more he attacks Lyon the quicker Cummins has to go back to his seamers which might tire them by the end of the day. The ball too seems to have stopped doing much as Mitchell Starc is hoping that surface would do something and bowling in and around that rib-cage area instead of being around at that off-stump area to induce edges through the seam moment. In fact, he almost succeeded when Nitish gloved one to Carey but was not given out and Australia refrained from taking a referral.

That's the water break in the noon session. it has been once again a passage of play in which Australia has dominated. It was a great call from Australian management to give a spell to Marsh and it gave good results. However, now he has brought in changes with Starc and Lyon into the attack. Nitish Reddy played a couple of lovely wristy shots one through long on and one through covers giving very early indications that the youngster is going to go after the off-spinner and which might not be a bad ploy because of how this surface is playing at this point.

One thing Australia has done very well here is they have not given any drive-me balls to the Indian batters. Both Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have been spot-on right from the first ball. They have not pitched anything up and given boundaries away. They have been around that hard length area and asked the questions of the batter. Pat Cummins is the only one who has bowled it a tad bit fuller and has been the least effective of the lot. Even Marsh who is not as quick as others reaped rewards bowling back of a length. This is a big learning for India on how to bowl when the opportunity arises.

This is great bowling from Mitchell Marsh he got another one. It was once again a slight extra bounce and subtle moment away which took the edge to the second slip. Yes, Sundar could have left in on length however, Marsh seems to find that lovely length in and around that good length area where the batters are uncertain about what to do about the delivery. Additionally, Marsh is not as quick as other seamers hence he will make the batters play and create that indecision and this wicket is his ally with all the grass on it. Nitish Kumar Reddy has walked into the middle.

India needs a partnership here. Yes, it is not easy and the ball is still nibbling a bit. However, compared to morning things would be a touch easier and the ball is a tad bit older. Given it is still early part of summer in Australia there might be not much reverse on offer either for the bowlers. It is not to say everything will be fine now and batters can go all guns blazing but more scoring options should be open to batters who have given themselves a bit of time at the crease and got adjusted to the pace and bounce of the surface which was not the case in the morning with every ball doing something. ibblingpent

There it is Mitchell Marsh gets the breakthrough. It was a fabulous delivery. It was an effort ball and moved slightly away got a bit of extra bounce and took the edge of Jurel to second slip Labuschange. The ploy to use the local bowler has worked for Cummins. This is getting bad to ugly for India here. Gautam Gambhir and have made many brave calls in regards to their line up and decision at the toss. Two sessions into the game it seems like at least the toss call has backfired. Washington Sundar has walked into the middle with plenty of work to do.

Mitchell Marsh and Pat Cummins have taken the ball after lunch. It is an interesting choice from Cummins to start with Marsh especially given how good Hazlewood and Starc have been in the morning session. However, having said that it is a long series and Cummins has to take care of his bowlers. Marsh is the local boy and can be irritating bowler with his dibly dobly pace and accurate lines and lengths. As per India, it is about caution mixed with aggression. They just cannot keep blocking everything as the wicket has enough at this point and a ball will do something extravagant.

It is a session that will test India's resilience and will give a rough indication of where this tour might head for them. Like many times before the onus is yet again on Rishabh Pant to deliver an innings of substance here alongside Jurel.

KL Rahul, the Indian opener, was controversially given out caught behind off Mitchell Starc's bowling, despite no clear evidence on the original replay. A spike on the snicko technology led to the decision, although Rahul maintained that the sound was from his bat hitting his pad. He walked back in disbelief, questioning the decision with the on-field umpires. (Read more)

Virat Kohli, known for his aggressive batting, had a brief but challenging 12-ball stay against Josh Hazlewood. He struggled to adapt to Hazlewood's bowling, playing unorthodox shots and eventually getting out. The challenging pitch conditions and Hazlewood's skill contributed to Kohli's difficulties. (Read more from Sriram Veera)

The edge flies away through the cordon and runs away to the fence. Dhruv Jurel is off the mark. The boundary also bring the 50 for India.

"I just think there's enough doubt there not to give the decision," Michael Hussey says in the Fox box.

"I don't think he had any choice other than to give it out," Tom Moody on ABC.

Rahul is shaking his head while walking back to the pavilion. He is not pleased with the decision. He has a chat with the on-field umpires before walking back to the pavilion. There was a clear spike on the UltraEdge when the ball passed the bat but at the same time, the bat hit the front pad. A controversial call to be fair. India have lost their fourth wicket.

Pant welcomes Lyon with a paddle sweep and it goes for a boundary. This will be some contest between this duo throughout the series.

Pant drives expansively through cover and will take three runs. India are 43 for 3 after 21 overs.

BIG APPEAL! Pant is rapped on the pad, it looks like it was going down leg. But Australia have taken the review. It is high and going down leg as well. Australia have lost their first review.

Josh Hazlewood is six feet five inches tall and has a high release point. According to CricViz he has the seventh highest point of release this century. The effect is whichever length he hits, he produces extra bounce. Almost every ball hits the top half of the bat, often cannoning onto the splice. He serves it up in the corridor, making the batsman play. The ball that nailed Virat Kohli was not too short, but it reared up at armpit height outside the off-stump and hit the upper half of his bat. The bounce shocked Kohli—but it was not a trick of the pitch, but owed to the disposition of the bowler. The bounce of Hazlewood had troubled him in the past too. In their World Cup meeting at Chepauk, he hurried him to a miscued pull when on 3, but was dropped. Another mishit pull of Hazlewood ended his innings, but he had added 82 more runs.

A one-handed square drive from Rishabh Pant. Pant throws his hands at it, loses the bottom hand off the bat and flies off the outer half of the bat. It travels past Lyon's dive to his left at backward point for three.

A much-needed boundary comes from the bat of KL Rahul. Hint of away movement. Rahul gets forward to drive. A nice stride, to be honest. Opens the bat face and slices it between backward point and gully. India are 36 for 3 after 18 overs.

The extra bounce has done the trick for Hazlewood. Virat Kohli edges this one to Khawaja at first slip after he fails to get on top of the bounce. India are in big trouble as they lose three in the morning session. He's out for 5 from 12 balls. India are rocking at 3-32.

Shot of the morning from KL Rahul. A flashing cover drive from KL Rahul, with fast hands, to get the ball to the cover point boundary. Eight runs came from that over. India are 32 for 2 after 16 overs.

"You'll see that back foot's more over on middle off stump than we're used to seeing..."

- Ponting on Kohli

Virat Kohli is off and running in Perth and Australia in what could be his last tour Down Under.

Moments before Devdutt Padikkal was caught behind off Josh Hazlewood with a ball that seamed away, Matthew Hayden on air pointed to the fact that the opener was not getting close enough to the ball because of his short stride. Padikkal not wanting to commit too much on the front foot in his first Test match outing in Australia was taking a small stride forward but Hayden felt it should have been been a much bigger stride even at Perth. He also felt Padikkal's leg was going too across instead of forward which hampered his leg side play too. "Not able to get to the ball," Hayden said adding that Padikkal had missed out on a couple of scoring opportunities.

By Nihal Koshie

Virat Kohli is standing well outside his crease to face Josh Hazlewood, who's very edgy to start. Hazlewood is all over him to start — finding the outside edge, beating the inside edge. India are 18/2 after 13 overs.

First boundary of the series off the bat! It was a lucky escape. KL Rahul was in two minds, and the ball kissed the edge and flew away to the fence. India are 18 for 2 after 12 overs.

That's a battling 23-ball duck for Devdutt Padikkal, who never looked settled in against the remarkable bowling. Josh Hazlewood ends Padikkal's miserable stay at the crease.

Pat Cummins has Kl Rahul in his sights. He has again beaten the outside edge, fired in a short ball into the stickers of hopping KL Rahul. A maiden for Pat Cummins. Change of end for Josh Hazlewood.

Another testing over from Starc and Padikkal is yet to open his account. India is still yet to score a run off the bat from Starc. India are 14 for 1 after nine overs.

Washington Sundar's form in the home series against New Zealand and India's shaky batting line up worked in favour of the all-rounder, who was picked ahead of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Here is Sriram Veera with the quick comment.

Here is Pat Cummins and he is right on the money. A wobbly outswinger troubled KL Rahul. Absolute seed from Cummins past the outside edge of KL Rahul. However, KL gets two runs off the last ball, plays it with soft hands as the outside edge that runs away past diving McSweeney at gully.

Few absolute seeds from Mitchell Starc to Padikkal. He has beaten the outside edge a couple of times, eliciting a half-hearted, stifled appeal from Alex Carey. Really good bowling from Starc. Padikkal is fighting for his life out there right now.

Good steady start from the Australian bowlers. Nothing alarming yet off the pitch, which perhaps yet to settle down. Of course it was enough to take out Jaiswal, who went for an on-the-up shot and unsurprisingly edged it to gully. Pat Cummins is now warming up at mid-off. It has to be said that KL Rahul has looked real good so far. That forward stride has been quite something. Early days, of course.

By Sriram Veera

KL Rahul scores the first run off Hazlewood for the day as he spears in at the pads. Interestingly, Travis Head has been taken out of short leg. KL gets a couple. At the end of Over No 6, India are 11/1.

KL Rahul has looked good for now. There has been oohs and aahs as Starc has beaten his outside edge. But he takes the single of the last ball and keeps the strike. India are 9/1 after 5 overs.

KL Rahul is being tested, but he staying watchful outside off stump. He gets off the mark with a lovely drive. India are 8/1 after four overs.

Devdutt Padikkal's only other Test came in Dharamsala in March. He looked all at sea against Mitchell Starc. The Australian team goes up for an LBW shot!! It was denied by Richard Kettlebrough. Too far down leg.

Next one, a big miss on the attempted yorker from Starc. Padikkal tries to jam down on it but misses everything as it whizzes past his off stump.

Yashasvi Jaiswal was keen to get on with it, this ball's gotten big on him, far from a drivable length. He gets a big edge and the ball flies out to Nathan McSweeney at gully, where he pouches a regulation but sharp chance.

MITCHELL STARC STRIKES! And Nathan McSweeney takes the catch at gully. Yashavsi Jaiswal walks back without troubling the scorers.

Here's Josh Hazelwood and he straight away gets big movement off the seam back into the hip of KL Rahul. Beaten the outside edge once and he starts off with the maiden. At the end of the Over No 2, India are 5/0.

The first ball of the series is always eventful, but this time it's for the wrong reason, speared down leg and to the rope. Runs on board, straightaway for India. Wild from Starc and India are off the mark from the get-go. At the end of the first over, India are 5/0.

Right then. Mitchell Starc with the brand new ball in his hand will open the bowling for Australia. KL Rahul and Yashavi Jaiswal to open for India. Here we go folks!

Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border walk out with the trophy in their hands . Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins lead India and Australia respectively onto the field for the national anthems. The players are followed by the match officials.

Shubman Gill sustained a left thumb injury during Day 2 of match simulation at The WACA. He was not considered for selection for the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring his progress on a daily basis.

"We're pretty 50/50. Good wicket here — sun's out, either way we're pretty happy.

"Feel fresh ready to go.

"The wickets out the back have been nice and bouncy. So hopefully a bit of pace and bounce this week."

"We are going to bat first. It looks a good wicket. We will have to adapt to the conditions and put good total on the board.

"We have had good preparation heading into this Test match. We had a good experience at the WACA.

"We played a Test match in 2018. We know what to expect here. It gets quicker as the Test progresses.

"Nitish Kumar Reddy makes his debut as a fast-bowling all-rounder. We have four fast-bowling options along with Washi."

India Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Lokesh Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj

Australia Playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

India throw in a surprise with Washington Sundar playing instead of either Ashwin or Jadeja.

Jasprit Bumrah has won the toss and India will bat first at the Optus Stadium in Perth.

In a patch next to main pitch, the Indian bowlers are warming up. But then everyone seems to be warming up. R Ashwin, jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Bumrah and Siraj and Akash Deep. Hmmmm

The debut caps were just given away to Nitish Reddy and Harshit Rana. Virat Kohli handed it to Reddy, and R Ashwin to Rana. And the huddle breaks away

All-rounder Nitish Reddy and pacer Harshit Rana are set to make their Test debuts in the opening match. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will be benched in favour of fellow off-spinner Washington Sundar. (READ MORE)

India’s Test record at Perth Stadium, Perth:

Total matches played: 1

Won: 0

Lost: 1

Australia’s Test record at Perth Stadium, Perth:

Total matches played: 4

Won: 4

Lost: 0

Test stats at Perth Stadium, Perth:

Total matches played: 4

Matches won batting first: 4

Average first-innings score: 457

Nathan McSweeney gets his maiden Test cap from Darren Lehmann. He will become the 467th player to represent Australia in Test cricket. He is likely to open with Usman Khwaja as well. Travis Head will be playing his 50th Test today.

9:19 am Perth: With 30 minutes to go for the toss, not much change in the crowd scene am afraid. Not many inside and neither are they "streaming in through the turnstiles". Surprisingly. The Indian-origin crowds too haven't yet turned up in any significant numbers. Of course, the official start of play is at 10.20, an hour away. With the entry and exit a breeze in this large stadium, one can afford to come close to start and still get to your seat before the first edge carries through to second slip.

All smiles as captains Pat Cummins and Jasprit Bumrah chat about their kids at the unveiling of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy; Cricket Australia insiders say that television rights money from this India series would bankroll their cricket for the next couple of years. (READ MORE)

Many Australiann players have come in personal cars. Andrew McDonald, the Australian coach, walks around the perimeter and entered the arena a while back. As if he were here to see the game like one of the crowd.

Inside the arena, Ranjan Madugalle, a former Sri Lankan player and match referee, gets off the car and goes in. This is the inner bay, where official cars can go through. The Indian team has yet to arrive. It is 8:47 a.m at Perth. Toss in an hour's time.

I haven't gone across to all gates but perhaps the first batch of people to enter the arena. A few kids in there and I guess that could be the reason for early entry for three families

Perth is one of the quietest cities you will see. Definitely aa compared to say Sydney or Melbourne. Nestled in the large mining state of Western Australia (they didn't think too long to name that, eh?), it's quiet, picturesque with trees-shaded avenues, a nice water front. Once the sun sinks in the evenings, roads get quite empty barring the CBD (business district and city centre). Or as my cabbie in the morning from Haryana puts it, "family ke liye best hai. Bacchen clubbing shlubbing jyaada nahi kar sakte". Or so he thinks about his teenage daughter. Indian fathers and their assumptions..

At the end of this arch, not far at alk, just a smashing shot from Mitch Marsh perhaps, lies the Perth station. Locals talk about how the 70*l,000 strong crowd can quickly empty out due to proximity of the station. As yet, deserted of course.

8:20 am Perth: Not much activity as you would imagine. The start is still couple of hours away. Volunteers in place. Instructions float from the speakers. Bright sunny day.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which gets underway in Perth on Friday.