David Warner was dismissed for a duck, but Australia settled to reach 1-92 at lunch on day one of the Boxing Day Test against India.

Chris Rogers and Shane Watson shared an unbeaten 92-run partnership, making the most of some sloppy fielding from the tourists.

The most costly was a diving catch that slipper Shikhar Dhawan failed to reel in when Watson was on 37.

Warner overcame a thumb injury to play the third Test and the MCG crowd was heaving with expectation after Steve Smith won the toss.

Instead Umesh Yadav grabbed the early ascendancy by removing Warner in the second over, with the aggressive opener out without scoring for the first time since March last year.

Yadav squared Warner up with a brilliant delivery, Dhawan claiming a low catch at third slip.

Ishant Sharma also made good use of the new ball and Australia’s first run only came in the fourth over.

Even that was a bye – wicketkeeper MS Dhoni fumbling a Yadav bouncer he should have taken cleanly.

Debutant KL Rahul and Mohammed Shami, both recalled as India seek the victory they need to keep the four-Test series alive, also misfielded in the fourth over.

“They’ve been a bit sloppy … a little bit of panic in the field, maybe a few nerves,” Shane Warne noted while calling the game for the Nine Network.

The errors cost so much more than the four runs added to the scoreboard, relieving the pressure on Rogers and Watson.

Watson, rattled by a bouncer that struck his helmet at training earlier this week, was unconvincing early but found his rhythm in the 14th over.

The allrounder lashed two sweetly-timed boundaries off Shami, with the over going for 13 runs.

Rogers had a few uncomfortable moments against the new ball – the most groan-worthy being the ball from Sharma in the first over that struck his box.

The 37-year-old was cautious but cracked five boundaries to be on the cusp of a third consecutive half-century at the meal break.