India vs Australia, 1st ODI - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Smith survives

Shardul does have this knack of picking wickets and it looked like he had given India a breakthrough against the run of play by trapping Smith leg-before-wicket. However, Smith reviews the call with the replays confirming an inside edge.

Australia recover in the powerplay

Top stuff from Australia, Mitch Marsh in particular. He has taken the aggressive route and managed to find the boundary on several occasions including a straight six off Shardul in that final over of the powerplay. Australia are 59/1 after ten overs. Will be interesting to see how Marsh fares against Kuldeep and Jadeja.

Mitch takes on Siraj

That's one way to make a statement very early. Mitchell Marsh decides enough is enough and takes on Siraj. After a mistimed shot that went for a boundary, he fetches two more in authoritative fashion to close out the over. Siraj has to be careful now given Marsh has this tendency to really tee off.

Siraj strikes early

Travis Head just hit a boundary in the over but he inside edges one onto his stumps now. Siraj strikes in his first over. It's a massive wicket given Head's form in ODI cricket off late. Steve Smith is the new man in. There is movement for both Siraj and Shami with this new ball.

Toss - India opt to bowl

No surprises there. It's a chasing ground, isn't it? Hardik wins the toss and wants to bowl first at the Wankhede. India have four seamers in their ranks including himself he says. Kuldeep Yadav is the second spinner in the XI after Jadeja. For Australia, David Warner is still not fit and as a result, Mitchell Marsh will be opening the innings. Alex Carey is sick and has flown back home so Josh Inglis will replace him in the middle order.

Australia (Playing XI): Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith(c), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis(w), Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

India (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan(w), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya(c), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami

Plenty to ponder for Team India

While India are expected to prepare for the likely scenario of Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant not making it to the World Cup, there are also question marks over Shreyas Iyer following his back injury. Apart from that, they will have to make calls over their spin attack as well over the next few months. Leaving the selection headaches aside, Rahul Dravid will also be keen on trialling some tricky scenarios on the pitch to prepare the side for the knockout clashes at the fag end of the tournament which is where India constantly keep failing after flattering to deceive. Vijay Tagore has it all detailed in his series preview here.

Build up

The last time Australia faced India in an ODI at the Wankhede stadium, they absolutely destroyed the hosts by chasing down 255 without losing a wicket. While the home fans will hope for a reversal in fortunes this time, there's a lot more at stake than just a win. For both teams, this series is very important as a part of their build up for the World Cup later this year. These two are amongst the strongest sides in the world and they will be right there during the business end of the tournament fighting for world cricket's ultimate prize. Given the fact they will be playing in similar conditions, both India and Australia would want to give a good account of themselves.

For Australia, Pat Cummins remains out, handing over the responsibility to Steve Smith again. But David Warner is back. He may have had problems in this part of the world in red-ball cricket but he is a different machine altogether in limited-overs. Travis Head has been quite good as well for the Aussies ever since he became the opener in this format so India will hope to strike early. In the middle order, Glenn Maxwell will be so eager to have a go as he is all set to play his first international game in over four months. It will be interesting to see the other allrounders Australia pick in their XI alongside Maxwell. They definitely have a lot of options.

From an Indian perspective, they do have plenty to think about. They may look fairly settled but with question marks lingering over Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah, India will have to be prepared. This series does provide opportunities for players who want to make a mark. Hardik Pandya will be leading India today in the absence of Rohit Sharma who will be available for the second game in Vizag. Welcome to the live blog for the first match of this series. Hopefully, we begin with a bang.