Teams hunt for right combination

Match facts

Sunday, October 25
Start time 09.00 local time (03.30GMT)

Does the audience have the stomach for a seven-match ODI series? The answer will play out during the next couple of weeks. However, if you do get beyond the initial apprehension, this series is extremely vital for both teams. For Australia, as Shane Watson has said, this is a warm-up for the World Cup, while for India, knocked out of the Champions Trophy early, this is a great chance to find the ideal XI and test their fast-bowling resources against a strong opponent.

Australia too have a few questions to answer: Will they give Shaun Marsh, who has had a successful stint in the IPL, an opportunity to open in the first ODI, or will they stick with Tim Paine who did a good job with Shane Watson against England? They might go with Paine at the top and push Marsh down. The middle order will miss the injured injured Michael Clarke, but Clarke has struggled in limited-overs cricket recently: his strike-rate in the 50-over format since the start of 2008 stands at a modest 66.81. However, his skills against spin bowling will be missed.

India will start the first ODI with a bit more hope than they did in the Champions Trophy: Virender Sehwag is back, and immediately the batting line-up looks much more potent. However, Yuvraj Singh is likely to sit out the first ODI due to a finger injury. With Rahul Dravid out, MS Dhoni can easily settle into the Dravid avatar that he has been doing so successfully in recent times: he doesn't hit out as violently as in his early days, and promotes himself when there is a good start so he can anchor the innings and allow the big hitters to express themselves. Expect the Australians to test out Suresh Raina with bouncers; among all the Indian batsmen in the fray, this series will be the biggest for Raina.

However, India will be a little uneasy about their bowling line-up. Munaf Patel should get a game, and it will be interesting to see whether Ishant Sharma, who has been struggling for quite a while now in limited-overs games, is included in the XI.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)

Australia - WWWWL

India - WLWLW

Harbhajan Singh, who had an excellent tour of New Zealand, where he dazzled one and all with his skills, has been off-colour ever since. The line has again deviated to middle and leg, the trajectory has got flatter and the pace has got quicker. Interestingly, he has not been using the doosra as often as he used to before. Will this series see the comeback of the doosra or will he continue to use it sparingly?

Shane Watson: Much to the relief of his fans, he has been injury-free for some time now and is fast approaching the peak of his career. By virtue of playing in the IPL and his involvement in the last Australian tour of India, Watson is almost an India veteran. He can win a game in a one hour of violent batting and can turn the game around with his aggressive seam bowling. He has already shown, in his brief career, that he is a big-game player. During the IPL held in India, he took an off-stump guard and peppered the onside. That was Twenty20 cricket, but we could see more innovations from him in this series.

Munaf Patel: The battering that the seam attack has received recently made his comeback easier, but he has been putting a lot of effort in the recent times and has got a clutch of wickets to force his way back. He has been a constant feature in the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, where he has been honing his skills. There is not much of a surprise-factor in his bowling: steady line and length, just enough movement, and on his good day, some extra bounce. However, what he brings to the table is the discipline that has been lacking in the likes of RP Singh and Ishant. He can be expected to bowl to the field set, a basic requisite which Dhoni didn't possess recently.

Brett Lee is the best new-ball bowler in the limited-overs cricket and the good news is that he seems hungry after coming back from the injury that prevented him from making an Ashes appearance. He has bowled with fire, has found movement with the white ball, and can be expected to test out the Indian batsmen with bouncers.

Yuvraj Singh is likely to miss the first ODI due to a finger injury, which means both Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja might play.

India (probable): 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Virat Kohli, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Ishant Sharma/Amit Mishra, 10 Praveen Kumar, 11 Munaf Patel

Australia don't have Clarke and might use Marsh to stabilise the middle order. Ponting has said the final eleven will be only decided on the morning of the game. Marsh might be able to fill in for Clarke, but Australia will sorely miss the services of Nathan Bracken and his slower cutters which perfectly suits the Indian conditions. However, they do have in Doug Bollinger, who has played in India for Australia A and for New South Wales.

Australia (probable) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Tim Paine (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Shaun Marsh, 5 Michael Hussey, 6 Cameron White, 7 James Hopes, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Nathan Hauritz 10 Brett Lee, 11 Doug Bollinger.

The pitch is expected to be good for batting. But the early start could tempt captains to field first. Dhoni put it thus: "It is an early start at 9am so you will have to see what exactly the conditions are, the amount of dew. This time of the year you get a fair amount of dew on the field. It may not break as much as it did in the last game we played over here and hoping it is a good track."

"We are not really motivated by rankings. It is nice to be ranked the No. 1 team in the world, but we don't study the rankings so much, and sort of think if win or lose the series, we will be No. 1 or we won't be No. 1. Our focus is to try and win this series against India. Playing in India is one of the toughest challenges for an Australian player. We are just trying to do that without focusing too much on the rankings."
Michael Hussey tries to put things in perspective

"Of course we are hit by injuries but this series is a long series and this gives you an opportunity to come back into the series if you lose the first few games. It is a seven-match series so you have ample time in between because the span of the series is quite long. So it is important to play good cricket throughout because it is not like a five-game or a four-game series where you win the first few games and the tournament is in your hands."
MS Dhoni tries to look at the positives