Australia have handed a debut to young spin bowler Matthew Kuhnemann for the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy in Delhi as the tourists won the toss and elected to bat first.

Kuhnemann only arrived in the country after the first Test, replacing the departing Mitch Swepson in the squad after he returned home.

The spin bowler replaces Scott Boland in the side, who played in the first Test with Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc both out. Neither of the front-line quicks will come back into the side.

Travis Head also returns to the Australian side for the second Test after being dropped for Nagpur. He comes straight into the side for Matt Renshaw, with Peter Handscomb holding onto his spot in the middle order. Cameron Green hasn't passed fitness and wasn't considered for selection.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma said he also would have batted first if he won the toss.

The hosts have also made a change, with Suryakumar Yadav out for Shreyas Iyer, who returns after missing the Nagpur Test which got the series underway.

The pitch, which looks on the dry side again, will undoubtedly take turn from the opening overs, with both sides naming three front-line spinners.

It is the first time Australia have gone into a Test with three front line spinners since the second Test of their 2017 tour of Bangladesh. On that occasion, Pat Cummins was the quick, and Hilton Cartwright backed him up as an all-rounder.

With Cameron Green not fit, it means Cummins will be the only quick for Australia, and they will open the bowling from at least one end with spin in both innings.

Play will commence in the second Test at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium at 3pm (AEDT).

India XI

1. Rohit Sharma (c)
2. KL Rahul
3. Cheteshwar Pujara
4. Virat Kohli
5. Shreyas Iyer
6. KS Bharat (wk)
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. Axar Patel
10. Mohammed Shami
11. Mohammed Siraj

Australia XI

1. David Warner
2. Usman Khawaja
3. Marnus Labuschagne
4. Steve Smith (c)
5. Travis Head
6. Peter Handscomb
7. Alex Carey (wk)
8. Pat Cummins
9. Nathan Lyon
10. Todd Murphy
11. Matthew Kuhnemann