PERTH: Australia captain Michael Clarke won the toss and chose to bowl first in the third test against India on what is expected to be a lively wicket with plenty of bounce at the WACA on Friday. Australia, who lead the four-match series 2-0, decided to drop spinner Nathan Lyon and include pacemen Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ryan Harris and Mitchell Starc in a four-strong attack.
"The pitch has got a fair bit of grass, and we decided to go in with four quicks," Clarke said. "Bowling first today will help us win this test match."India have also gone with four paceman, handing right-armer R Vinay Kumar his test debut in place of spinner Ravi Ashwin in an otherwise unchanged side.
"We would have liked to bowl as well," said India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "The Perth wicket will help the fast bowlers more than spinners."Dhoni and the India selectors have resisted pressure to tamper with their batting line-up and Virat Kohli survives at number six to leave Rohit Sharma still awaiting his test debut.
Experienced but injury-prone Harris replaces the injured James Pattinson in the Australia team, while Starc gets a recall after missing out on the first two tests of the series in Melbourne and Sydney. The 21-year-old left-armer made his test debut alongside Pattinson in the series against New Zealand last month, taking four wickets at a cost of 200 runs in two matches.
Australia won the first test in Melbourne by 122 runs and the second by an innings and 68 runs in Sydney last week. Teams: Australia - Michael Clarke (captain), David Warner, Ed Cowan, Shaun Marsh, Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey, Brad Haddin, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Starc.
India - Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), R Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.