India vs Australia, 1st ODI, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

We are only a Champions Trophy, which both sides will count as a failure for very different reasons and a short 2-Test tour of Bangladesh removed from the Australians last touring India for a 4-match Test series in which they tested and tried the Indians, even winning the first Test, but ultimately lost 2-1.

However, intermittent showers during the break played spoilsport as Australia were set a revised target of 164 off 21 overs via Duckworth-Lewis method.

Glenn Maxwell hit three consecutive sixes of Kuldeep Yadav to ignite tiny hopes in the Australian camp. India will therefore have to choose between him and Yuzvendra Chahal for the second spinner’s slot. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (32*) also made a handy contribution.

Australia wobbled early in their chase as Jasprit Bumrah bowled Hilton Cartwright and then took a swirling skyer to dismiss rival skipper Steve Smith.

This series was expected to be a face-off between the top three batsmen on either side.

Bumrah drew first blood by cleaning up Cartwright’s off-stump before Pandya joined the party.

The hard-hitting all-rounder perished a short time later, out caught off Zampa.

While in the IPL, Dhoni guided CSK to two league titles in 2010 and 2011 while they finished runner-up as many as four times in eight season under his leadership.

Warner (25) was the fourth man to go, cutting Kuldeep Yadav into Dhoni’s gloves, and despite Maxwell’s flurry of boundaries and Faulkner’s cameo, the tourists never really got close – Yuzvendra Chahal scooping 3-30.

Kohli faltered in the Test series 46 runs in five innings, his poorest return from a series on home soil and has a point to prove against Australia.

While Ajinkya Rahane has been selected in the squad as the third opener, and therefore should be an automatic pick, KL Rahul makes an interesting case for his inclusion at the top.

The Aussies too will rely heavily on their tweakers to get them the wickets.

Pandya clobbered Adam Zampa for three successive sixes in a 24-run over, bringing up his fifty off 48 balls in the process.

The situation was tailor-made for MS Dhoni, who combined with Pandya for a 118-run partnership.

The 29-year-old picked up three wickets in 13 balls including the prized scalp of India captain Virat Kohli who was out for a duck to a sensational one-handed Glenn Maxwell catch in the gully. Kedar Jadhav and Rohit Sharma steered the Indian innings with a 50-run partnership but the duo departed with two well-directed bouncers from Marcus Stoinis. You can also follow live blog and ball-by-ball commentary on CricketCountry’s LIVE BLOG and LIVE SCORECARD.