The Aussies have battled some mediocre form in the lead-up to the tournament, with uncertainty surrounding their entire line-up.

India come into the tournament as favourites, with Australia looking to possibly exact some revenge after their loss in the Border-Gavaskar series earlier this year.

The action all kicks off at 7.30pm AEDT.

FOLLOW ALL THE ACTION BELOW

9:55PM: JADEJA TAKES MARNUS AND CAREY THIS TIME!

Ravindra Jadeja is a hard man to keep down, and after he got Smith, you almost knew another would come soon from the spinner and this time he gets Marnus Labuschagne.

The Aussie got down to play the sweep, but a little bit of bounce catches the edge of the bat and the keeper secures it.

Oddly, Marnus started walking when the umpire gave him out, but after a discussion with Glenn Maxwell used up a review, after replay showed an edge on the back of the bat.

This Aussie innings needs to find a spark very soon.

And Alex Carey’s struggles with the bat continue, he’s caught on the pads right away and he has to go.

This has quickly turned disastrous.

9:40PM: SMITH SURVIVES SCARE, THEN DOESN’T SURVIVE PEARLER

India did send a DRS review upstairs for the old caught behind or maybe you moved your foot before you were stumped play, but Steve Smith survives.

That run rate of 4.71 almost an hour ago has continued to dwindle, edging towards four runs an over as Smith closes in on 50.

We are over halfway through this innings, will the Aussies have to make some changes to the batting order if a wicket comes soon to get some juice into this innings?

Glenn Maxwell is slated to come in at five, but they do like to hold him back towards the end of innings, could that change?

And just like that, the former Aussie captain has to go, and what a seed it is from Ravindra Jadeja, pitched on middle, Smith came forward to defend and the ball spun and hit the off-stump.

Not much one of the greatest players we have ever seen can do with that.

9:20PM: WHAT DO AUSTRALIA NEED TO SET?

The runs have slowed down since Warner left, with Labuschagne easing into his innings and Smith clearly planning on batting through.

A predicted score before the innings of 285-300 seemed enough based on the hisotry at this ground, but surely the visitors will need more against this Indian batting order.

The dryness of the pitch will hopefully play in Australia’s favour tonight, but will they have enough on the board, and will their lack of a secondary spinner come back and bite them?

8:55PM: WARNER’S PATIENCE RUNS OUT

After playing with such ease against the left-arm spinner Yadav, David Warner decided enough was enough and paid the price.

A fuller ball that Warner could not get under goes right back to the bowler who takes a simple catch, bringing Marnus Labuschagne to the crease.

That also means Australia will have two right-handers out there, which we expect Ravi Jadeja to jump all over, with the superstar not having bowled yet in this game.

After getting himself in on this pitch, Warner will be shattered with his dismissal on 41.

Still, a solid partnership has given Australia a decent start after the early wicket of Mitch Marsh.

8:45PM: EXPERIENCE COMES TO THE FORE

These two are loving the conditions now, the ball is a bit older but is still firm, as Smith and Warner create a platform not only for them, but for the entire team to launch off.

The two have both tracked into the 30s, working the Indian spinners over, working singles with ease and putting away some bad balls.

The run rate right now is at 4.71, so we may see a flat period in the time straight after the powerplay, as India scatter their field to the fence.

Mitch Marsh will be filthy he missed out on a deck like this one.

8:25PM: SMITH AND WARNER SETTLE THE SHIP

Australia’s two experienced legends have formed a good partnership since Mitch Marsh departed, easing the pressure to start this contest.

Smith has played some cracking shots through cover and mid-wicket, while Warner sent Panyda for six over fine leg.

The two have been experts in keeping the strike turning over, not allowing Ashwin to settle in on one batsman.

Ashwin has been able to get some uneven bounce out of the surface, which has done a bit thanks to the dryness of the wicket.

8:10PM: SHORT-FORM (nice) STAR SENT HOME

Matt Short has headed back to Australia after hanging with the team as a travelling reserve during the warm-up games. But leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha will remain in India for the time being given Australia does not have a spare frontline spinner in its 15-man squad.

7:45PM: HOST NATION ROARS AS BUMRAH STRIKES

Jasprit Bumrah is hard to get a gold of, and Mitch Marsh falls for a duck to start his campaign, after a beauty.

That ball was slightly back of a length and Marsh pushed at it outside his off-stump, finding a thick edge which Virat Kohli secured brilliantly at first slip.

The home team have gotten one of the most dangerous wickets in world cricket early and the crowd is roaring.

Steve Smith will come to the crease, with Australia already in a little but of danger, with Bumrah up and firing.

The hosts may have been aided by a new ally in the team, with the notorious pitch invader known as “Jarvo” spotted on the field dressed in Indian team gear for the anthems but was escorted off.

7:40PM: EARLY MOVEMENT FOR BUMRAH, AUSSIES OFF AND RUNNING

The first ball of the game and David Warner flashes in that cover region as he tends to do and is beaten by Bumrah, that ball did move through the air after it hit the deck.

A similar delivery and attack second up, and Marsh scampers through, putting the Aussies on the board.

A tidy over from the Indian quick and Australia are off and running at the World Cup.

First ball from Mohammed Siraj, and it’s absolutely crushed by David Warner to the off-side for four, Siraj gave it some width in the hope it would swing and that ball did nothing.

Rohit Sharma did not like that at all, quickly moving his mid-wicket fielder to cover, cutting off that area for Warner who loves the off-side.

After that tough start, Siraj has gotten his line and length spot on mostly, forcing Warner to play close to the body, with the last ball rolling to the keeper behind the stumps.

7:10PM: AUSTRALIA WINS TOSS, ELECT TO BAT

“Looks like a good afternoon to bat,” says the Aussie skipper Pat Cummins after winning the toss, with concerns with a potentially spinning deck later now irrelevant for the Aussie batsmen.

Indian superstar Shubman Gill will miss the clash, another break for the Aussies.

Mitch Marsh and David Warner will open proceedings for Australia, with seven of the last 10 teams to bat first in Chennai claiming victory.

Aussie Test teammate Usman Khawaja believes the two openers are primed to start hot to quell the likes of Bumrah and Siraj.

6:40PM: CAN AUSSIE TEST SIDE HANDLE INDIA’S STAR-STUDDED TEAM?

Marcus Stoinis looks set to miss the opener in Chennai, meaning Australia look set to field a team very akin to their regular Test team.

Stoinis is still recovering from a hamstring injury, and looks poised to feature later on in this tournament.

Indian superstar Shubham Gill does not seem likely to play, with expectations that the Indians could pick three spinners, Australia have only taken one specialist spinner into the tournament, with Aussie legend Mark Waugh voicing his concerns about the issue.

“You can’t rely on Maxwell, he’s serviceable, but you can’t rely on him,” Waugh said.

The covers were taken off the pitch in Chennai quite early, allowing the wicket to bake in the roasting sun, according to Fox Sport’s Harsha Bhogle.

The GOAT puts up hand for shock World Cup call-up

– Ben Horne

Nathan Lyon has already contacted selectors to declare himself ready, willing and able to become the frontline finger spinner Australia is missing at this World Cup.

Thirteen weeks after hobbling off Lord’s with a blown calf, Australia’s greatest ever off-spinner is back and set to make his return to cricket this weekend.

The timing is intriguing for an Australian side that begins its World Cup campaign on Sunday night against India in Chennai with the gaping hole of having Adam Zampa as the only frontline spinner in its 15-man squad for a tournament in the home of spin bowling.

World Cup teams can only make squad changes in the event of injury, but if another Australian player goes down over the next six weeks, then selectors would be expected to try and add another spinner to the mix after Ashton Agar was forced to withdraw on the eve of the tournament.

Lyon wants to be that man.

“Yeah, 100 per cent. I sent (coach) Andrew McDonald a text message the other day when I saw Ashton Agar was ruled out,” Lyon said on Sunday at a kids’ clinic at Easts’ Cricket Club.

“I said, ‘Just to let you know, I’m back bowling 10 overs – I’m right to go, 100 per cent.

“If that happened (a place opened up in the squad), I’d do anything to go over and play the World Cup.

“I think the squad they’ve got there looks pretty exciting and it’s been pretty amazing the start of the World Cup.”

Lyon will go from Lord’s to Asquith Oval when he returns in a grade match for Northern Districts on Saturday, before playing a one-dayer for NSW against South Australia in Adelaide on October 20, followed by a Sheffield Shield clash against Victoria in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, the Australian squad in Chennai is currently trying to nurse Marcus Stoinis back to full health, with the all-rounder having missed the past four World Cup warm-up matches with a sore hamstring.

Australia erred in the 2019 World Cup not getting a replacement player in earlier for Stoinis when he struggled for fitness for much of the tournament.

Selectors are expecting Stoinis to get himself right sooner on this occasion, but with Australia already carrying an injured Travis Head (broken hand) through the first half of the tournament, they can ill afford another unfit player and having only 13 players to choose from.

Given Head’s delayed entry to the tournament, selectors elected to pick batsman Marnus Labuschagne as Agar’s replacement in the 15-man squad – but it leaves spin bowling as the obvious position where Australia lacks depth.

Australia has already said Agar could come back into calculations to re-enter the squad if another squad member goes down, but Lyon’s experience would also be difficult to ignore given the unique pressures of a World Cup.

“I’d like to think (my experience would help). I’d be more than comfortable going in there and doing it if I had to,” Lyon said.

“But, in saying that, there has to be a lot of things go wrong, so let’s hope for Australia’s sake that doesn’t happen. Hopefully, they go out there and have a really good campaign and make sure they go over there to achieve what they’ve gone over there to do.”

Lyon said his calf injury had made him reassess his career goals, and he says he is even more determined to make it to the next Test tour of India in 2025 and the next Ashes tour of England in 2027, when he would be 39 years of age.

“100 per cent. I’ve always wanted to win in India, win in England. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that in either (this year) so it’s made me reset and reassess where I’m at and where I want to get to … and look pretty brightly about the future,” Lyon said.

Originally published as Cricket World Cup 2023: Follow LIVE Australia takes on India