Paine names same XI for second Test

Australia have named an unchanged XI for the second Domain Test, with Aaron Finch to retain his place at the top of the order.

Finch, who made a three-ball duck and 11 in the first Test in Adelaide, worked closely with Test legend Ricky Ponting at Australia training on Thursday, with the pair inseparable out in the middle of Perth Stadium and the practice nets.

Captain Tim Paine backed Finch and said he needs just one score to develop the belief he can thrive at Test level.

Australia XI: Aaron Finch, Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Tim Paine (c), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

"Finchy's been successful in international cricket," Paine told reporters on match eve. "He played really well in the UAE and is like no other player – he just needs that one score to get that little bit more self-belief at Test level that we know he's got in international T20 and one-day cricket.

"Finchy is no different to any other player. You're not going to succeed at international cricket unless you stick to your strengths.

"Finchy knows the best way to go about his batting and we've just got to keep him on track and make sure he keeps trying to do that. If he does he'll come good for us."

Paine also said criticism aimed at paceman Mitchell Starc after the Adelaide Test was "unfair".

Starc claimed 5-103 from 40.5 overs in Adelaide but was wayward at times with the second new ball in India's second innings.

But Paine refuted calls the left-armer is struggling and dismissed any suggestion his spearhead would miss the Perth Test. 

"I think the criticism he's come under this week has been pretty unfair," Paine said.

"As I said after Adelaide, I thought barring two or three overs where he got his radar a little bit wrong I thought he bowled really well.

"He's best and his worst are getting closer together and I think we're getting really close to his best again.

"He swung the ball in Adelaide which he didn't do in the UAE, I think he'll swing it out there (at Perth Stadium), the conditions are going to suit him down to the ground.

"One thing I know about Starcy is when he cops a bit of criticism normally he takes it pretty personally and that sometimes gets the best out of him.

"I'm pretty pumped to see him go tomorrow or the next day and see what he can produce.

"We know his best is the best, so we're excited to have him in our team and realise how lucky we are to have him."

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: First Test, Adelaide Oval, India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Second Test, Perth Stadium

Dec 26-30: Third Test, MCG

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar