Australia 3/0 after 2 overs: After a few comfortable leaves with the angle, Wade gets Australia going with possibly the first of many threes. Driven confidently. Umesh did not get his line right in that over.

Umesh Yadav from the other end...

Australia 0/0 after 1 over: Bumrah starts off with a wide one but gets progressively fuller (and closer to the channel outside off) as the over went on. Burns threw his bat at the last one and missed it.

Jasprit Bumrah with the ball in hand... here. we. go!

05.01 am: National anthems done (a bit longer than 52 seconds, that Indian rendition). We are all set.

India’s Test record at MCG

Result Margin Start Date
Australia 233 runs 1 Jan 1948
Australia inns & 177 runs 6 Feb 1948
Australia inns & 4 runs 30 Dec 1967
India 222 runs 30 Dec 1977
India 59 runs 7 Feb 1981
Draw - 26 Dec 1985
Australia 8 wickets 26 Dec 1991
Australia 180 runs 26 Dec 1999
Australia 9 wickets 26 Dec 2003
Australia 337 runs 26 Dec 2007
Australia 122 runs 26 Dec 2011
Draw - 26 Dec 2014
India 137 runs 26 Dec 2018
via ESPNCricinfo

4.50 am:

Test cap No 297: Shubman Gill

Test cap No 298: Mohammed Siraj

Ashish Magotra: 4:30 in the morning. Toss done. The anticipation of the first hour. The magnificent sight that is the G. This is the true cricket in Australia feeling that we all grew up with. Day/night Tests don’t cut it yet.

Team news: Of course, Australia are unchanged. And for India, changes aplenty.

Australia’s XI: Tim Paine (captain and wk), Joe Burns, Matthew Wade, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Pat Cummins, Josh Jazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon.

India’s XI: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara (vice captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ashwin Ravichandran, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

TOSS UPDATE: A good toss to win for Australia, one thinks. Tim Paine opts to bat first.

4.25 am: Remember, there has not been any cricket played so far this summer at MCG, so there could be freshness on this pitch. But usually, this is a bat-first venue. An interesting toss coming up.

4.20 am: Among all Test venues in Australia, India have won the most matches at MCG.

India's record at Australian venues

Teams Mat Won Lost Tied Draw W/L
Melbourne Cricket Ground 13 3 8 0 2 0.375
Adelaide Oval 13 2 8 0 3 0.250
Sydney Cricket Ground 12 1 5 0 6 0.200
W.A.C.A. Ground, Perth 4 1 3 0 0 0.333
Brisbane Cricket Ground 6 0 5 0 1 0.000
Perth Stadium 1 0 1 0 0 0.000

04.10 am: Hello and good morning to all Indian fans waking up nice and early on this Saturday. The Boxing Day Test is one of those occasions no cricket fan wants to miss.

India face a daunting task, make no mistake, as they prepare to bounce back from the Adelaide debacle: a task made tougher by the absence of Ishant Sharma, Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami.

Ajinkya Rahane, who has assumed the captaincy, said he didn’t plan to disturb Kohli as he prepares for his wife to give birth, but said they spoke at length before he left.

“Virat spoke to all of us before leaving Adelaide, about being positive, just playing to our strengths and just to play as a team, as a unit, which is what we have been doing for so many years,” he said.

“The last Test match, we had, comparatively, two good days and just one bad one where we lost it completely.

“This week was all about backing ourselves as individuals and as a team, playing to our strengths,” he added.

Australia captain Tim Paine Friday called India a proud nation that won’t roll over in the Boxing Day Test, and the hosts must be “bang on the mark” to inflict more misery after their Adelaide collapse.

Australia head into the second Test in Melbourne full of confidence after thumping the visitors by eight wickets inside three days last week, skittling them for an embarrassing 36 in the second innings.

But Paine said it would be a mistake to underestimate India despite the tourists missing superstar captain Virat Kohli, who has returned home for the birth of his first child.

They are also without pace spearhead Mohammed Shami, who has reportedly fractured his wrist.

“We can’t pay any attention to mental scares or whatever anyone is talking about,” Paine said of India, who were savaged at home for their Adelaide capitulation.

“I mean, India is a proud cricket country, they are an extremely talented Test match side with lots of dangerous players.”

(With AFP inputs)