Captain Pat Cummins has won the toss and Australia will bat in Nagpur as the tourists axed Travis Head for the first Test against India in a bombshell call.
Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb have been preferred over Head for the start to the Border-Gavaskar series at VCA Stadium on Thursday.
It is a bold decision from Australian selectors after Head's dominant 2022, where he made 655 runs at an average of 50.38 with two centuries.
The 29-year-old played some vital knocks during Australia's summer Tests against the West Indies and South Africa, but his poor record in Asia has counted against him.
Head, who can bowl handy off-spin, struggled during two Tests in Sri Lanka, averaging just 7.66.
Meanwhile, young Victorian spinner Todd Murphy will make his Test debut after playing just seven first-class games.
Murphy was confirmed as Australia's 465th Test cricketer, with star veteran Nathan Lyon presenting him with his baggy green.
India have debutants of their own with Twenty20 sensation Suryakumar Yadav brought in to bat in the middle order in place of youngster Shubman Gill.
KS Bharat has been selected as India's wicketkeeper, debuting after star Rishabh Pant suffered serious injuries in a car accident in December.
Cummins had no hesitation in batting first, with questions surrounding the pitch following some unusual curating by ground staff in the lead-up to the Test.
India have selected three spinners - Ravi Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel - in a bid to exploit Australia's perceived weakness against the turning ball.
Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (capt), Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat, Ravi Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami.
