Australia elect to bat at MCG

Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat in the first Test against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

• Scorecard

The hosts chose left-arm spinner Brad Hogg in place of Shaun Tait to accompany a three-pronged pace attack comprising of Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark.

India have decided to open with Rahul Dravid in the Boxing day match, which marks the 100th Test of Sourav Ganguly.

Teams:

Australia: Phil Jaques, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark

India: Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh