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Match facts

February 5, Melbourne
Start time 1420 (0320 GMT)Sachin Tendulkar is back in blue for the first time since the World Cup final•AFP

Big Picture

Five summers ago India regained some pride after an unhappy Test series by claiming the triangular ODI trophy. It was the start of their road to lifting the World Cup in 2011. This time around the tourists are again seeking a new start, having been bullied and battered to a 4-0 hiding by Australia in the Tests. There was little of the acrimony that shrouded 2007-08, partly because India were never really close enough to Australia for the two combatants to trade blows, and the tourists will enjoy the chance to return to a format they are well versed in.Despite a mediocre showing at the World Cup, Australia retained their No. 1 ODI ranking, and under Michael Clarke have won series in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and South Africa to maintain the position. The team is in a state of some transition, as injuries and form have resulted in the inclusion of several new faces in the squad for the first three matches, Peter Forrest among them. Ricky Ponting, Clarke and Michael Hussey remain critical contributors to the batting order, while Brett Lee’s speed and experience has again been called upon.India have been bolstered by the return of Sachin Tendulkar for his first ODI assignment since the World Cup, while a victory in the second Twenty20 international at the MCG on Friday night gave the visitors their first win of any kind on the tour. MS Dhoni leads a side that is growing gradually younger, with the batting trio of Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma all expected to score heavily across the series, as well as providing plenty of energy in the field.

Form guide

Australia WLWLW (Most recent first)
India WWLWW

In the spotlight

Ryan Harris built up a formidable ODI record in 17 matches up to July 2010, scooping 41 wickets at 16.12, his strike-rate an eye-popping 20.60. However injuries and cautious selection limited him strictly to Test match duty in the 18 months since, preventing Harris from attempting to maintain his enviable record. It will be a difficult task for Harris to keep nabbing wickets with such regularity against India and Sri Lanka, while also maintaining his fitness to be sound for the West Indies tour that follows this series.Sachin Tendulkar has not donned the blue shirt for India since the World Cup final, concentrating on Test matches instead. However the pursuit of his 100th international century has now gone on far longer than Tendulkar or any of his team-mates would have liked, hastening his return for the triangular series. Given the decent if not altogether imperious form displayed by the ODI team in his absence, Tendulkar will need to demonstrate his value quickly, for unless he intends to go on to another World Cup, the time for regeneration is at hand.

Team news

Having omitted Shaun Marsh due to his dismal Test form, the national selectors must choose who should partner David Warner at the top of the order. Matthew Wade excelled at the top in the first T20 in Sydney, while Ponting, Clarke and Hussey have all taken the role in the past. Daniel Christian should slip into the allrounder’s spot while Mitchell Marsh is absent for a Sheffield Shield fixture. Brett Lee has been ruled out of the series with a broken toe.Australia (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Matthew Wade (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 David Hussey, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Daniel Christian, 8 Ryan Harris, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Xavier Doherty, 11 Clint McKay.The question of where to include Tendulkar hangs over India’s selections, and a decision must also be made about whether to leave out a batsman to make room for Ravindra Jadeja. The likes of Irfan Pathan, Umesh Yadav and Vinay Kumar are in a duel for the final pace berth.India (possible) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Rohit Sharma, 7 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Praveen Kumar, 11 Zaheer Khan.

Pitch and conditions

The MCG surface should be sound for batting while offering little for the bowlers, though rain and cloud is forecast for the afternoon.

Stats and trivia

• The match marks the return of the triangular series in Australia for the first time since India’s last visit in 2007-08
• Australia’s last ODI meeting with India was the World Cup quarter-final, won by the hosts by five wickets in Ahmedabad

Quotes

“Our success in the Test series against India is now irrelevant. We know from recent experience that if we’re not switched on both teams can hurt us.”

The deciding Test match between South Africa and Sri Lanka swung the way of the hosts as early as the first morning. South Africa were put in to bat and reached lunch on 135 for 2. Before tea on the second day that had become 580 for 4 and the hosts had effectively batted the visitors out of the contest.Rather than talking up the batting effort, Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, credited his bowlers with fashioning the comprehensive victory. “This was our best bowling performance of the summer,” Smith said. “We bowled well as a unit. Yesterday, each guy bowled really well in their spells and we were able to create pressure. It wasn’t just one guy bowling outstandingly and picking up seven or eight wickets. All three seamers and Imran [Tahir] worked together in partnerships.”South Africa bowled Sri Lanka out for 239 in their first innings, taking the last eight wickets for 90 runs. After enforcing the follow-on, they managed to nip out four wickets by stumps on the third day and completed the win just after tea on the fourth, sealing their first series win at home since they beat Bangladesh in 2008. They have since drawn home series against England, India and Australia but Smith said they had lacked the ability to close out series.”We haven’t lost too many [series] but we haven’t had the killer punch. Durban [where South Africa have lost their last four Tests] was a disappointing moment for us again this summer. It was a big wake-up call for the guys in terms of the standards that we need to produce as a team. But otherwise, the rest has been positive. This win in particular gives us a lot to build on for the year to come.”South Africa embark on a trio of away tours in 2012: they play in New Zealand in February, England in July and Australia in November. Smith said they will draw inspiration from the way they ended the home summer when on the road. “The way we won here was important. We had good partnerships with the bat and the ball, and everything we’ve been talking about came out strongly.”Although South Africa finished with authority, there are still some unanswered questions about the make-up of their Test squad, particularly with regards to the batting line-up. “At the moment, everyone is finding questions somewhere in a Test match,” Smith said. “We just need to build our strength as a team and each guy needs to get strong in his role. There are a few things that need to be cemented.”The same areas that were under scrutiny at the beginning of the series are at the end: the opening berth and the No. 6 slot. South Africa made a change to both for the third Test, dropping Ashwell Prince and moving Jacques Rudolph down the order while replacing him with Alviro Petersen at the top.Both Petersen and Rudolph had success in their new roles, the former scoring a century and the latter an unbeaten 51. While Petersen fit in seamlessly, Rudolph still has some critics to convince, but Smith said he was pleased with the progress Rudolph made. “I’m sure he was very nervous even though we were in a strong position; you’ve got to come in and play a certain way. With the changes and everything he must have been nervous and it was great to see him play that way.”The other question mark is the place of Mark Boucher, who did not get an opportunity with the bat at Newlands and dropped a catch in Sri Lanka’s second innings. Smith stressed that Boucher is in no danger of being dropped from the team anytime soon, especially not before the tour of England in six months.”I think that’s the first catch I’ve seen him drop from 10 to 15 metres back. I think he is secure. As a gloveman he has been excellent for us. Overall, in the time that I’ve played with him, his consistency in taking chances has been excellent. He is ultra-reliable so when he does put down a chance a big thing gets made of it. Going to England, having a really good keeper is going to be the key factor there.”

Michael Clarke once said he would play cricket every day of the year if he could do so at the SCG. Though he did not make the all-time Australian XI compiled to mark the SCG’s 100th Test, Clarke’s story and technique are steeped in the history of the ground. His feet dance in accordance with the assistance on offer to the best spin bowlers, and his use of the crease both forward and back was fostered by the variety of fast and slow men who tried their luck on a surface with more subcontinental echoes than any other in Australia.With this in mind, it is fitting that Clarke will lead Australia in the second Test against India, on a ground where he made his name and then enhanced it with strong showings as both a batsman and an occasional left-arm orthodox bowler. Intriguingly Clarke’s record in Tests is curiously muted, having made only one century, against South Africa in 2009. But his love of the place is clear.”I know we love playing here, I know I love playing here,” Clarke said. “It’s a great ground, it’s my favourite to play and we’ve had a lot of success here at the SCG, so we’re confident walking out onto that ground. It doesn’t guarantee anything, but we’re playing in front of our home crowd, for a lot of the guys it’s their home ground as New South Welshmen and we’re excited about this second Test match, it’s a great time of year as well obviously to be playing Test cricket.”It’s nice to be playing at my home ground I guess and obviously the chance to captain Australia is very special in the 100th Test match here as well, so I think that will sink in over the next 24 hours. It’s been quite a busy period from Melbourne, coming back here we’ve had a lot of stuff on, a lot of training, but over the next 24 hours I think the nerves will certainly kick in in regards to playing in another Test match at the SCG in front of my family and friends and now having the chance to captain here is certainly an honour and a privilege.”In his time at the SCG, Clarke has witnessed its character change from that of the slow turners of the 1990s into the more rounded, classical surface engineered by the curator Tom Parker in recent seasons. Those characteristics are in line with those loved by players of the 1950s and ’60s, offering help to batsmen, quicks and spin bowlers in far more equal measure than when Clarke first visited.

SCG all-time XIs

Australia: Victor Trumper (NSW), David Boon (Tas), Don Bradman (NSW/SA), Ricky Ponting (Tas), Greg Chappell (SA/Qld), Keith Miller (NSW/Vic), Adam Gilchrist (WA/NSW), Shane Warne (Vic), Ray Lindwall (NSW/Qld), CTB Turner (NSW), Glenn McGrath (NSW). Fred Spofforth (NSW) 12th man. Coach: Bill O’Reilly. Coach: Richie Benaud.
World: Herbert Sutcliffe (Eng), Jack Hobbs (Eng), VVS Laxman (India), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Wally Hammond (Eng), Garfield Sobers (WI), Richard Hadlee (NZ), Alan Knott (Eng), Anil Kumble (India), George Lohmann (Eng), SF Barnes (Eng). Harold Larwood (Eng) 12th man. Coach: WG Grace.

“Conditions have probably changed a little bit over the last few years, no doubt the way I was brought up on this wicket it was spin conducive wasn’t it,” Clarke said. “I faced a lot of spin as a kid, I’d seen a fair bit of reverse swing at a young age and generally this wicket is a little bit slower than say Perth and Brisbane and what we’ve just seen in Melbourne.”It encouraged me to move down the wicket to the spinners, no doubt, mainly because the ball spun so much and I wanted to get as close to it as I could before it spun too much. It’s probably helped the way I play spin bowling, I’ve got to pay credit to the SCG.”But the last couple of years it’s quickened up a bit, there’s been enough there for the bowlers, swing and seam and you need to try and adapt to that, but I think it certainly feels like my home ground. The way I play I guess is very similar to the conditions I’ve faced, from an 18-year-old boy until only until the last couple of years it’s probably changed.”A panel comprising Jim Maxwell, Mike Coward, Phil Derriman, Gideon Haigh, Phil Wilkins, Malcolm Conn, Warwick Franks, Andrew Leeming, Malcolm Knox, and the SCG Trust chairman Rodney Cavalier, selected Australia and World teams from those who have graced the ground over its 100 Tests. Three men about to play in this match, Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, were chosen in the teams.

Paul Nixon, the former Leicestershire wicketkeeper, is hoping to agree a role with Pune Warriors for next year’s IPL meaning he won’t take up a full-time position with his former county.Nixon, 41, retired at the end of the 2011 season after winning the Friends Life t20 in August but he rejected the offer to become batting coach at Grace Road to take up a role in India.”It was a massively tough decision,” Nixon told the . “But over the last few years I have got involved in other things and I have had an offer from the IPL to go and coach. It’s waiting to be finalised and I would have liked everything to have been done before I turned down the full-time role with Leicestershire. They came to me about the role, we have agreed terms and it’s a case of running it past the board and getting contracts signed.”However, a Pune Warriors official told ESPNcricinfo that Nixon was just one of a number of options that the franchise were considering and that it was premature to suggest a deal was done.The IPL begins on April 4 and Nixon has a contract offer for 80 days. He is hoping this opportunity can lead to future work. “You go and show what you can do and add value to the organisation, and the players, and take it from there,”he said. “I know I can add value. I’ve got a lot of experience in Twenty20 cricket. You have to do a good job and enjoy it.”I like to think I have a canny knack of winning trophies. It would be nice to win one with Pune Warriors, that’s the plan,” said Nixon, who won the County Championships twice with Leicestershire in 1996 and 1998 and three Twenty20 titles in 2003, 2007 and 2011. He also won the National League with Kent in 2001.Leicestershire head coach Phil Whitticase said the door was not closed for Nixon at Grace Road. “Nico could not commit to anything because he had other irons in the fire, but he will be involved in some capacity.”

ScorecardRyan Harris finished with 7 for 60•Getty Images

Ryan Harris has hit his peak ahead of the upcoming Test series in South Africa, taking a career-best 7 for 60 as Queensland thrashed Tasmania within three days at the Gabba. Following on, the Tigers resumed at 5 for 66, needing another 92 runs to make the Bulls bat again, but they stumbled to a 28-run loss as Harris ran through the lower order.Harris flies out on Saturday to join Australia’s Test squad ahead of the tour match in Potchefstroom and he should be full of confidence following his efforts over the past two days. He collected nine wickets for the match and struck with the fourth ball of the third day, when Luke Butterworth was caught behind for a duck.Steve Magoffin had the last of the recognised batsmen, Alex Doolan, caught for 30 but the bowler left the field soon afterwards with a calf injury. He wasn’t required, though, as Harris picked up the remaining three wickets, although a 41-run stand between Jason Krejza and Ben Hilfenhaus at least hinted at resistance from the Tigers.Hilfenhaus had been dropped in the slips twice before he had scored, both times off Harris, and he was eventually bowled for 12. Later in the same over, Harris had Adam Maher caught at gully, leaving Krejza not out on 42 and ensuring Queensland continued their strong start to the season; they are so far unbeaten in both formats.