Australia are scrapping hard to produce a competitive total in the second Test against India, moving to 6-199 at tea on day one in Delhi.
Recently recalled Victorian Peter Handscomb remains unbeaten on 36 after a fighting knock in difficult conditions at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Friday.
Australia added 3-105 in the second session after going to lunch at 3-94, following captain Pat Cummins electing to bat first after winning his eighth-straight toss.
Handscomb combined for a 61-run fifth-wicket stand with star opener Usman Khawaja as the pair appeared to be turning the momentum in Australia's favour.
But after losing 2-0 in three balls in the first session, Australia lost 2-1 not long before the tea break as Alex Carey was dismissed without scoring.
It was first Test stars Ravichandran Ashwin (3-57) and Ravi Jadeja (1-44) who landed the important blows.
Cummins made a welcome return to form with the bat, and went to tea on 23.
Khawaja's enterprising knock of 81 came to an end in stunning fashion, with India opener KL Rahul hanging onto a diving, mid-air catch as the home crowd erupted.
The left-hander rode his luck in brilliant fashion to notch Australia's first fifty of the series, surviving some loud shouts from India's spinners and quicks alike.
The 36-year-old played bravely, stepping down the wicket to Ashwin and hitting him for a towering six over long-off in one of the highlights of the day for Australia.
Earlier, Australia were 1-91 but lost 2-0 in three balls late in the first session as Ashwin claimed the prized wickets of Marnus Labuschagne (18) and Steve Smith (0).
Khawaja's opening partner David Warner fell for 15 to end a torturous innings where he was hit on the helmet and elbow in separate incidents.
Australia were rolled for 177 on day one of the first Test after winning the toss, and then crumbled for 91 - their lowest Test total in India - in their second innings to lose inside three days.
Meanwhile, Cummins will be Australia's only recognised quick as the tourists opted to give Queensland spinner Matt Kuhnemann a Test debut.
Kuhnemann was playing Sheffield Shield less than a week ago, but will play as a third spinner alongside first Test sensation Todd Murphy and veteran Nathan Lyon after being called into the squad to replace Queensland teammate Mitchell Swepson.
The last time Australia picked three spinners was against Bangladesh in 2017 when Lyon, Ashton Agar and Steve O'Keefe played, as well as allrounder Glenn Maxwell.
Miserly Victorian quick Scott Boland dropped out for Kuhnemann after playing an important role in Nagpur last week.
India will have added motivation for this match as prolific No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara plays his 100th Test.
The hosts made just one change, with fit-again Shreyas Iyer replacing Suryakumar Yadav at No.5
© AAP 2023