Daijiworld Media Network

WACA, Perth, Jan 12 : Good morning everyone and welcome to the first game of the 5-match ODI series. There have been a lot of change in personnel in both side from their last series. For India, the likes of Raina, Rayudu, Mohit, Harbhajan, Mishra and Binny are missing. Jadeja, Ishant, return to the side, while the selectors have also included fresh faces like Manish Pandey, Rishi Dhawan and Barinder Sran.

Dhoni: 'We have decided to bat first. Usually it is quite dry and hot here, but it's good to have a bit of cloud cover. It was good to have a couple of practice games here. It is always exciting to have new faces in the side. It's good to be here (in Australia). People love competitive cricket.'

Smith: 'I was actually thinking about bowling because of the overhead conditions. We have got some young exciting talent in Joel Paris and Scott Boland, they are making their debuts. James Faulkner makes a comeback as well. We have played well in the last couple of years and I am confident that we can play well in this series and stay No. 1 in the world.'

India have won the toss and have opted to bat

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Barinder Sran

Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith(c), George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade(w), James Faulkner, Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood, Joel Paris

Death bowling has been India's biggest problem and during their training, the pacers were seriously addressing the issue. In fact, they took a leaf out of Lasith Malinga's book and practiced hard by placing a pair of shoes near the batting crease to get their yorkers right.

Australia have already announced their XI. With Mitchell Johnson retiring and Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins out with injuries, Steven Smith's side will have two debutants in Joel Paris and Scott Boland. Here is their playing XI: Warner, Finch, Smith, Bailey, Maxwell, Marsh, Wade, Faulkner, Boland, Paris, Hazlewood. Shifting focus to the Indian team, we are hearing that MS Dhoni has just handed the debut cap to Barinder Sran. Either of Pandey or Gurkeerat were expected to take the No. 6 spot in the batting-order. Looking at the fact that only Barinder was handed the cap, one assumes that Pandey has been picked for this ODI.

India's last ODI assignment was their home series against South Africa. Things did not go according to plan though as the Men in Blue lost 2-3 to the Proteas. On the other hand, Australia last played an ODI series back in September, when they successfully overpowered England in their own backyard after the 2015 Ashes. As said earlier, a lot has changed for both sides since then, thanks to injuries, retirement and poor form.

'I feel it's a bilateral series where a lot of new individuals will get a chance. So it will be very exciting.' These were MS Dhoni's words at the pre-match press conference.

Match Preview :

The atmosphere in Perth ahead of the opener of the ODI series between the top two ODI teams in the world could not be more different than if it was played in India. The sleepy town of Perth exudes a feeling of complacence and contentment, and it almost feels like no one knows Australia are facing off against India. But the men who truly matter know it's on...

India and Australia return to the ground they enjoyed playing in, during the World Cup. India won big against the UAE before seeing off a defiant West Indies side in their final league game. Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohd Shami all enjoyed good outings at the WACA. Australia, on the other hand, racked up a record 417/6 against Afghanistan on the back of some superb hitting from David Warner, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell. Five of the aforementioned six players are sure to take the field during the opener on Tuesday (January 12).

The last time these two sides met was at Sydney, as semi-finalists of the Word Cup, where Australia ended India's reign as World Champions. The rivalry between the sides has already been talked up much, and with a number of youngsters coming into the sides, the series has all the ingredients of a enthralling affair.

India: MS Dhoni has already mentioned that one of Gurukeerat Singh Mann or Manish Pandey will bat in the lower-middle order. The top-order selects itself, but it will interesting to see where Ajinkya Rahane fits in. The right-hander did not find himself with a concrete spot in the top four during the series against South Africa despite being in good form.

Pandey or Mann could take up the position vacated by Suresh Raina, but there is the possibility of MS Dhoni moving up the order and asking a debutant to bat lower down. Mann bowls some handy off-spin and is more experienced playing the big hitting role down the order. However, India might just prefer a specialist in that position and it puts Manish Pandey higher up the pecking order.

With the pitch at the WACA likely to offer the pacers assistance, the Indian think-tank will be wary of playing two spinners. However, the side did well when they had both Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin in the line-up for the games they played in Perth last year. During the pre-game conference MS Dhoni said he preferred playing three pacers and two spinners.

Barinder Sran should be in line for his debut having performed reasonably well during the practice matches.

Australia: The hosts will be going in with an all-out pace attack, with Scott Boland and Joel Paris debuting for the hosts. Josh Hazlewood, James Faulkner and Mitchell Marsh make up the rest of the bowling line-up, with Glenn Maxwell as a back-up spin option. The batting is on expected lines with Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steve Smith and George Bailey making up the top four.

With two debutants, Australia's bowling does have a shade of inexperience around it. However, as Smith suggests, Perth is probably the best place for a fast bowler to make a debut. Homeboy Joel Paris ought to know the conditions quite well while Boland walks in with huge expectations. The righ-arm seamer is expected to play a key role in the death overs while left-arm seamers Joel Paris and Faulkner add that bit of variety in an all-pace attack.