India vs Australia 1st Odi Live Streaming

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

Watch out for ...

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.