NAGPUR, India :Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja claimed four wickets in the second session as India reduced Australia to 174-8 at tea on day one of the opening test in Nagpur on Thursday.

Having lost both their openers inside the first 13 deliveries, Australia staged a mini-recovery after Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith forged an 82-run stand.

Jadeja (4-45) removed both batsmen after lunch and Ravichandran Ashwin (2-41) struck twice to keep India on top.

Peter Handscomb, picked ahead of Travis Head, was batting on 29 at the break with Nathan Lyon yet to open his account at the other end.

Touring captain Pat Cummins had opted to bat on a spin-friendly track but Australia were rattled early after Mohammed Siraj, sharing the new ball with Mohammed Shami, dismissed Usman Khawaja lbw for one with his first delivery.

Shami sent David Warner's off-stump cartwheeling in the next over but Labuschagne (49) and Smith (37) guided Australia to lunch without further setback.

Home spinners were soon in the thick of things when play resumed.

Jadeja removed Labuschagne stumped and dismissed Matt Renshaw for a first-ball duck to be on a hat-trick.

While that feat eluded him, Jadeja claimed the crucial wicket of Smith with an extra delivery he had to bowl for having sent down a no-ball earlier in that over.

Alex Carey (36) decided to counter-attack but his 33-ball cameo fizzled out after he fluffed a reverse sweep against Ashwin, who also removed Cummins.

Todd Murphy scored a duck in his debut test to become Jadeja's fourth victim in the match.

For India, Suryakumar Yadav, the top-ranked Twenty20 batter, made his test debut alongside wicketkeeper KS Bharat.

Delhi, Dharamsala and Ahmedabad host the other matches of the four-test series.