All set to defend their cricket World Cup crown in less than a month, India will get their preparations underway with the aim of finding the right combination for the marquee event when they take on Australia in their opening match of the ongoing ODI tri-series here on Sunday.
While this tri-series provides the perfect setting for experimentation, the need of the hour is to get a settled combination going ahead to instill confidence in the side.
In the recently-concluded Test series, these same set of players did compete well despite a 0-2 score-line saying otherwise. However, the change in format cannot be negated and there will always be a few cobwebs to be cleared.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will return to international cricket after a little over two weeks since his Test retirement at the same venue, and he will have some decisions to make. The first order of business will be to make a firm choice about the opening combination.
With less than a month to go before their opening World Cup encounter against Pakistan in Adelaide, it is worrisome that India's openers are yet unknown.
Ahead of Sunday's game, the team management has failed to specify whether it will be Ajinkya Rahane or Rohit Sharma pairing up with Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order, or indeed whether a third possibly-surprising combination might be thrown up.
The choice of openers will have an effect on the rest of the batting order as well. If Rahane opens with Dhawan, where will Rohit fit inIJ Indeed, if Rohit opens the innings, will Rahane return to number four, a position he has not been comfortable with.
Or, will Virat Kohli be moved down a spot from his favoured number three, a move he experimented with while leading the side at home against Sri lankaIJ
Unlike the team's preparations ahead of any Test match, their net-sessions for an ODI do not throw any suggestive patterns and it was the same on Saturday. In no particular order then, all batsmen enjoyed a decent hit in the nets including Ambati Rayudu and Stuart Binny.
Both of them will be hoping to play a definitive role during this tournament and increase their chances for the World Cup.
Among the bowlers, playing two spinners is definitely par for the course for India, with R Ashwin and Axar Patel slated to take up those spots.
Ravindra Jadeja is still some distance away from full fitness. Meanwhile, Ishant Sharma too has been ruled out of this match with the management not willing to risk him at this stage in light of his left-knee niggle. It remains to be seen whether Bhuvneshwar Kumar will make the cut given his poor showing in the Sydney Test.
Mohit Sharma and Dhawal Kulkarni are in the tri-series 17-man squad, and have been confirmed as back-up options for the World Cup, should one of the chosen bowlers break down.
While India are placed second in the latest ICC ODI rankings, they do not have an impressive showing in this format on their past three overseas tours. They have only won three out of 12 matches played, all of them coming against an English ODI side in a state of free-fall at this moment.
In five out of six losses then, where conditions were pretty much equivalent to the upcoming World Cup, India conceded 359 and 281 in South Africa, and 293, 293 and 304 against New Zealand.
The one time they batted first versus the Kiwis and lost, they couldn't defend a 278-run target at Hamilton. In the one-off tied match at Auckland too they conceded 315 runs.
Having tasted immense success against India this summer, Australia will once again be looking to make a meal out of this attack. The hosts have already taken an early march in the tournament after beating England by three wickets in Sydney on Friday.
How Dhoni's bowlers joust with the likes of David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell and James Faulkner in this limited-overs setting will set the tone for the next two months.
live on Star Sports: 8.50 am
Not worried about slow tracks: Faulkner
Australia all-rounder James Faulkner says his team is not worried about the slow nature of the pitches and the Indians using it to their advantage as he feels the hosts are in equally good form.
The flat wickets in Melbourne and Sydney during the four-Test series between India and Australia had come under criticism with many saying that the visitors got all the advantage.
“It comes down to the conditions and what lineup they go with, whether they want to play a spinner or not. But we are not worried. Everyone seems to be in form. It's a good healthy environment for Australian cricket,” Faulkner said on Saturday.
Faulkner said the two teams would be starting off on equal footing and it's going to be a tough game.
“It looked like a very good Test series. The Indian batsmen are in pretty good touch as well, particularly Virat Kohli. They're going to be tough tomorrow. They're a very good one-day team and so are we,” he pointed out.
Australia got off to a good start in the tri-series with a three-wicket win over England on Friday, thanks to David Warner's third ODI hundred.
Starc predicts intense match against India
Squaring off with India once again after a fiercely fought Test series, left-arm Australian pacer Mitchell Starc predicted an intense contest against the same opponents in their tri-series match here on Sunday.
The 24-year-old paceman was reprimanded by the ICC during the fourth Test in Sydney for his exaggerated send-off for Murali Vijay after dismissing the India opener. It was one of several face-offs between the players of both the sides in a highly-competitive series won 2-0 by Australia, and Starc said he expects another gripping battle between the number one and two ranked ODI sides.
“It's been a pretty intense Test series. Two great teams going hard at it and it will be very much the same on Sunday. There will be two sets of guys doing their best to play their best and trying their hardest for their countries,” Starc said.
“It was a fantastic Test series to watch and to be a part of and it will be no different on Sunday,” he added. He was the chief destroyer in the opening game of the tri-series against England, finishing with figures of 4/42 in Australia's bonus point three-wicket victory.
Starc's four wickets took him past the 50 mark in his 29th ODI.