India have got their important breakthrough as Tim Paine departed after a well-made half-century.
Ashish Nehra drew the first blood for India by sending back Shane Watson in the second over itself after Australia elected to bat against India in the inaugural one-dayer of the seven-match ODI series.
Even after losing Watson early, Australian captain Ricky Ponting and Tim Paine managed to steady the innings.
The duo mixed cautious with aggression to counter Indian bowling and play their shots to put Australia on top.
Ponting and Paine slowly but steadily kept on piling up runs for Australia before Ishant Sharma gave India a much-needed breakthrough by seeing off Paine for a well-made 50 off 62 balls.
Earlier, India left out Yuvraj Singh, who is recovering from an injury, besides Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra and Sudeep Tyagi.
The injury-hit hosts are fully aware that a series triumph in the seven-match rubber would catapult them to the number one spot.
The Indians will also be keen to make amends for their ICC Champions Trophy debacle as they take on the world champions in what promises to be a thrilling contest of nerve and skills.
Australia are in super form having clinched the Champions Trophy title, which followed an impressive 6-1 thrashing of England while the Indians have not quite lived upto expectations in recent times.
Teams:
India: SR Tendulkar, V Sehwag, G Gambhir, SK Raina, MS Dhoni*†, V Kohli, RA Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, A Nehra, P Kumar, I Sharma.
Australia: SR Watson, TD Paine†, RT Ponting*, MEK Hussey, AC Voges, CL White, JR Hopes, MG Johnson, B Lee, NM Hauritz, PM Siddle.
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