AUSTRALIA made a poor start to the third Test against India at Nagpur this morning.

After skipper Adam Gilchrist had won the toss and chosen to bat, his side slipped to 86-3 with the dismissals of Justin Langer (44), Matthew Hayden (23) and Hampshire's Simon Katich (4).

At lunch they were 103-3 with Damien Martyn and Darren Lehmann both 11 not out.

Another Hampshire man, Michael Clarke, was expected to bat at six against an Indian side who welcomed back Sachin Tendulkar after injury. He replaced Sourav Ganguly (groin strain).