India was left in deep trouble on the opening day of the first Test against Australia and it was one “controversial” decision that burned the visitors.

Star quicks Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood created headaches for India in the first session, with the latter claiming the prized scalp of Virat Kohli for just five runs.

Indian opener KL Rahul looked to be the only player showing some resistance, but the right-hander was sent packing before the lunch break after a successful DRS referral.

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Starc and his teammates went up for a caught-behind, but on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough initially denied the left-arm seamer his second wicket of the day.

However, despite already burning one of their reviews, Australian captain Pat Cummins opted to roll the dice once again and this time it paid off.

Replays showed a clear spike on snicko, but Michael Hussey was left confused by the decision to overturn Kettleborough’s on-field assessment.

“That is a controversial one,” the Aussie great said on Fox Cricket.

“There was a spike on the snicko, but was the spike coming from the ball hitting the bat, or was it the bat hitting his pad?

“You can see the bat just clipping the pad, so you’ve just got to get the timing right … there’s got to be some doubt there in my mind.

“The frustrating thing is the technology is there to make sure the decision is correct.”

Rahul was left visibly frustrated by the call from the officials as he was forced to walk off the field in front of a strong crowd at Perth’s Optus Stadium.