India paceman Jasprit Bumrah struck to remove Usman Khawaja but Australia were well positioned on 176 for two at tea on Thursday following teen talent Sam Konstas’s thrilling debut knock on a sweltering opening day of the fourth test.

Khawaja ended a lean run with the bat with his first half-century in 12 innings, scoring 57 before pulling Bumrah straight to KL Rahul at midwicket as the temperature rose above 36 degrees Celsius (97F) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Marnus Labuschagne was felled by a Mohammed Siraj delivery that cannoned into his groin but survived to be 44 not out at the break, with Steve Smith on 10.

Led by 19-year-old debutant opener Konstas, who struck 60 off 65 balls, Australia’s top order rewarded their captain Pat Cummins after he won the toss and elected to bat.

Konstas had a bumper crowd in the palm of his hand in the morning as he smashed Bumrah around the park and got under the visitors’ skin.

He shrugged off a shoulder bump from an irked Virat Kohli at the end of the 10th over and a barrage of invective from paceman Mohammed Siraj during his swashbuckling knock.

Trapped lbw by Ravindra Jadeja after the second drinks break, Konstas trudged off with huge cheers and the third quickest half-century (50 from 52 balls) by an Australian test debutant behind Adam Gilchrist and Ashton Agar.

With 11 first class matches under his belt, Konstas replaced the dropped Nathan McSweeney and had promised to keep things simple with a “see ball hit ball” approach in his first test.

Bumrah beat his bat four times in the first over before Konstas whipped two off his pads to get off the mark, triggering a roar from the crowd.

India’s players sniggered when Konstas failed to put bat on ball with two botched ramp shots facing Bumrah but he wiped the smiles from their faces with a four, a six and another four with his next three efforts in the quick’s fourth over.

Dancing down the wicket at Siraj, he swung and missed at a ball, prompting a long stare and some choice words from the fiery quick, who was booed by the crowd.

Konstas charged Siraj again on the next delivery to hit him for three.

He later edged Bumrah just short of a diving Kohli in the slips and the frustrated former India captain bumped shoulders with Konstas, prompting peacemaker Khawaja to step between the pair.

Unruffled, Konstas smashed Bumrah for 18 runs in the next over before raising his fifty with two runs off Siraj.

Siraj then gained a small measure of revenge when he sent a delivery crashing into Konstas’s crotch but the young batter recovered to linger for another six overs.

With the five-test series level at 1-1 after the Gabba test was drawn, India dropped number three Shubman Gill and promoted similarly out-of-form skipper Rohit Sharma to the position.

Selectors sprung a surprise by adding all-rounder Washington Sundar as a second spin option rather than including another fast bowler.

Scott Boland replaced injured paceman Josh Hazlewood in Australia’s 11, the fan favourite returning to the side for his second test of the series after bowling in Adelaide.

With the weather forecast for a scorching 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit), meteorologists have said the temperature could nudge record territory for the first day of the traditional Boxing Day test.