The host's latest combination failed to deliver at the Gabba after Harris and David Warner were both dismissed cheaply in the series-deciding fourth Test on Friday.

Replacing the injured Will Pucovski, Harris (5) missed a golden chance in his Test recall when he tamely chipped a catch to square leg from Shardul Thakur's first delivery.

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting labelled it a "very, very soft Test match dismissal".

"It just swings in late; you can see he just fell over to the off side a little bit," Ponting said on Channel 7.

"Because he was falling to the off side, he clipped it in the air.

"It's a very, very soft Test match dismissal, has to be said; day one at the Gabba ... you can't be getting out like that."

Opening partner Warner (1) was also dismissed in the first over after Australia won the toss and chose to bat against an Indian attack boasting just four Tests and 13 wickets between them.

It left Australia sitting perilously at 2-17 after captain Tim Paine had declared the toss a "very good one to win" given the brilliant batting conditions expected at a venue they haven't lost at since 1988.

The Warner-Harris partnership is Australia's third combination in four Tests, with Joe Burns and Matthew Wade playing the first two games before Warner and Pucovski partnered in Sydney.

Burns and Wade put on 70 for the first wicket as they chased victory in Adelaide's series-opener, but otherwise the hosts have been put under pressure with early wickets.

While Warner fell cheaply in both innings, Pucovski looked assured in his Test debut at the SCG in reaching 62, before a shoulder injury in the field ruled him out of the Gabba match.

India were forced into more changes with both Jasprit Bumrah (abdominal) and Ravichandran Ashwin (back) unable to back up in Brisbane.

It's left Mohammed Siraj, who only made his debut at the MCG, to lead an incredibly inexperienced pace attack that boasts a meagre 13 victims as compared to Australia's 1046 at the start of the Test.

Australian Associated Press