India captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bowl in the first Twenty20 international against Australia in Ranchi on Saturday.
The hosts, who recently clinched the one-day series against the Steve Smith-led side 4-1, have made two changes from their last ODI in Nagpur on Sunday.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan, who missed the ODIs to be with his ailing wife, and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav make the cut for the first game of the three-match series.
"T20 is a format where you can't take any team lightly, let alone Australia who are really good," Kohli said at the toss.
Australia's stand-in captain David Warner said he is "honoured" to lead the T20 side after Smith had to fly back home to recover from a shoulder injury.
Left-arm quick Jason Behrendorff makes his international debut for the visitors. Allrounders Moises Henriques and Dan Christian also make the starting XI.
"Time to start fresh. Looks a great wicket, we've to come out and bat first and bat well," said Warner.
Teams
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Australia: David Warner (captain), Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Dan Christian, Tim Paine, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff
Umpires: Nitin Menon (IND) and Chettithody Shamshuddin (IND)
TV Umpire: Anil Chaudhary (IND)
Match Referee: Sir Richie Richardson (WIS)