Disastrous start for Australia in the first game of the Border Gavaskar Test cricket series against India

Australia have had the worst possible start to their Test series against India as David Warner and Usman Khawaja are both knocked out for one after just three overs in the game.

Warner’s stumps cartwheeled – a sight that has become all too common for the aging opener – and Indian speedy Mohammed Shami was delighted as the Australian seemed to blame the pitch for missing the ball entirely.

It continues the 36-year-old opener’s poor form in India, where he has averaged just 24.25 points.

Khawaja fared not much better, surviving an appeal but later being knocked out LBW by the third referee after a ball from Mohammed Siraj stayed deep on the side of his leg.

David Warner was bowled clean by a Mohammed Shami delivery that sent his stump cartwheeling

Australia have not won a Test series in India for 19 years and despite last-minute exits for Josh Hazlewood and Cameron Green, a landmark win under skipper Pat Cummins was not out of the question.

Much will now depend on the at-bats of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, with Travis Head sensationally dropped in favor of Peter Handscomb and Matthew Renshaw.

It was a decision that sent cricket Twitter into a frenzy and prompted a rebuke from Australian legend Steve Waugh, who said it was a “gamble and over-analysis” on the back of Heads’ best summer of testing ever.

“Hard to believe we can drop the 4th place Test batsman in the world and quite possibly our best batsman in the last 12 months plus he bowls above average with no spin – let’s see – maybe the Aussie selectors are geniuses!” Waugh wrote on his Instagram.

Australian grandmaster Damien Martyn agreed with Waugh, writing: “It’s a big decision now we wait,” while fans and pundits were also shocked by the decision.

There’s more to come…