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Australia will bat first at the MCG in the crucial Boxing Day Test against India, with teen Sam Konstas to debut in front of a massive crowd.
Teen debutant Sam Konstas will open the batting to begin the Boxing Day Test against India after Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss.
The MCG wicket has provided plenty of assistance for bowlers in recent years, but with the temperature expected to soar to 39 on Thursday, Cummins chose to send India into the field.
The series is delicately poised at 1-1 and Australia must win at least one of the the last two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney and prevent India from winning again to regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
Konstas has been the centre of attention ahead of this match and the 19-year-old will make his Test debut in the cauldron of the biggest day in Australian cricket.
The country's 468th male Test cricketer, Konstas was presented with his baggy green cap by storied former Australia captain Mark Taylor.
He will make history as the youngest Australian to open the batting at Test level.
Cummins was 18 when he made his Test debut and he has impressed on Konstas the need to enjoy the moment and not be over-awed.
"There's a level of naivety, that you just want to go out and play, like you did when you were a kid in the backyard," he said.
"You always want to do well. I was saying this to Sammy the other day, I remember as an 18-year-old thinking 'I got a lot more leeway, because I was young' - almost publicly.
"I almost felt like if I didn't have a great game, it wasn't my fault, it was the selectors' fault for picking me ... they're the idiots who picked an 18-year-old."
Travis Head, Australia's most important player, passed a Christmas morning fitness test and will play, while Scott Boland replaces injured paceman Josh Hazlewood.
Boland returns to his home ground and the venue of his famous Test debut when he tore through England with 6-7.
"Whenever he gets his chance, he steps in and looks like he's one of the best bowlers in the world," Cummins said of Boland.
"I'm expecting much the same here. He loves bowling here, he's obviously played probably more than anyone else (in our team) at the MCG.
"It was pretty awesome that even with an unfortunate injury like Josh's, you can have someone like Scotty to come in seamlessly."
The tourists have fond memories of the MCG, winning their last two Tests there and not having lost at the venue since 2011.
India have dropped Shubman Gill, bringing in allrounder Washington Sundar as a second spinner to support Ravindra Jadeja.
Under-fire captain Rohit Sharma will move back to the top of the order after batting at No.6 in Adelaide and Brisbane.
Teams
AUSTRALIA: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
INDIA: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.
