Australia v India: All you need to know ahead of the ODI series

Australia and India, the last two World Cup winners, are about to embark on a five-match ODI series.

But which players will be in action and when are the games on? Here's all you need to know before two cricketing heavyweights collide...

The matches

First ODI, Perth, 3.15am, Tuesday, Jan 12, Sky Sports 2
Second ODI, Brisbane, 3.15am, Friday, Jan 15, Sky Sports 1
Third ODI, Melbourne, 3.15am, Sunday, Jan 17, Sky Sports 3
Fourth ODI, Canberra, 3.15am, Wednesday, Jan 20, Sky Sports 2
Fifth ODI, Sydney, 3.15am, Saturday, Jan 23, Sky Sports 2

The squads

Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, George Bailey, Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Mitch Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Joel Paris, Matthew Wade 

India: MS Dhoni (captain), R Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhunveshwar Kumar, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh, Rishi Dhawan, Barinder Sran

Newbies to watch

Australia have selected right-arm quick Scott Boland and left-arm seamer Joel Paris following two seasons of wicket-taking in the Matador BBQ's One-Day Cup, while India have talented batsman Manish Pandey in their ranks. Pandey, who smoked 71 on his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in July, was the first Indian to score an IPL hundred - in 2009 - and then clubbed 94 from just 50 balls in the 2014 final to steer his side, Kolkata Knight Riders, to victory.

Notable absentees

India have dropped Suresh Raina, with the middle-order man scoring just one century in 26 ODI innings and averaging only 13 in the recent series against South Africa, while Harbhajan Singh has also been jettisoned and seamer Mohammad Shami, a consistent wicket-taker in ODI cricket, is missing with a hamstring injury. Australia, meanwhile, are deprived of Mitchell Starc (ankle), Pat Cummins (back) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (shoulder), while they have chosen to axe Shane Watson.

The recent meetings

Australia and India met in last winter's Carlton Mid ODI Tri-Series down under, with the hosts beating their visitors by four wickets at The MCG - Rohit Sharma's 138 proving in vain in as Starc's 6-43 and Aaron Finch's 96 saw the Antipodeans home with an over to spare - before rain ruined their second tussle in Sydney. The sides met again in the semi-final of the 2015 World Cup and Australia prevailed once more, Steve Smith crunching a ton as the men in gold won by a whopping 95 runs.

ODI form
Australia have only played six ODIs since beating New Zealand in the World Cup final in March, defeating Ireland in a one-off encounter before edging a topsy-turvy series with England 3-2 after triumphing in the final match at Old Trafford. India have been a bit out-of-sorts in ODIs post-World Cup, with a 3-0 thumping of Zimbabwe sandwiched by defeats to Bangladesh and South Africa.

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