India have been plagued with injuries. With Ishant Sharma out of World Cup, India need to find answers to quite a few questions. Catch all the live updates of the match here: (Live Scorecard | Live Updates | Fixtures | Complete World Cup Coverage)
*Solid start from the Aussies. Both Warner and Finch have played some good strokes early.
* David Warner and Aaron Finch open the innings for Australia. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Stuart Binny get the new ball.
* The Indian players appear well-rested. "The break was important," says pacer Umesh Yadav. "It has helped clear our minds and refreshed us."
* What did Dhoni tell his boys after the tri-series loss? "Take rest and just don't get arrested or killed. Rest all is ok," he reveals.
* Toss! Australia captain George Bailey calls it right and his side will bat first. MS Dhoni says he would have wanted to bat first too but is ready to experiment in the practice match.
Team India will look to register first win on Australian soil in limited-overs cricket.
© AFP
India's form and fitness will be under spotlight when they take on hosts Australia in the opening warm-up game of the World Cup. India have suffered a major setback after pacer Ishant Sharma failed his fitness test due to a knee injury on Saturday. However, there is some good news for Indian fans as both Rohit Sharma and medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar were declared fit. Ishant is likely to be replaced by medium pacer Mohit Sharma in the squad.
Fitness of Rohit, Bhuvneshwar and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will be tested against Australia on Sunday. Despite his continuous failures, Shikhar Dhawan is likely to open the batting and these two games will be the last chances that he will get to cement his place in the playing XI. There was experiment with Virat Kohli's batting slot in the tri-series and the management also has to decide quickly on giving him a final slot.
All this has to be decided on Sunday and on Tuesday when the team plays minnows Afghanistan in the final warm up game before the big clash against arch-rivals Pakistan on February 15. ('India Still Have Good Chance to Defend World Cup')
In Rohit, the only batsman with two 200s in one-day internationals, Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina and the explosive MS Dhoni, India possess destructive batting firepower. But the frail bowling attack remains a worry, as was evident during the recent Test series where the hosts piled up 500-plus totals in each of the four matches. (Sachin Says India Must Learn From Defeats Down Under)
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