Australia took the first ODI in Sydney, India hit back in Adelaide; Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni signalled their form, and the series is now locked at 1-1 with the decider in Melbourne promising to be a humdinger.
Ahead of the MCG affair, India will look to be more balanced and the players look comfortable in their roles. Australia has made a couple of changes to their squad. Nathan Lyon has been axed, Jason Behrendorff is out with a back problem and all of a sudden, Kohli and team look like favourites.
We take a look at some of the vital numbers before the third ODI
Melbourne has historically been a high-scoring ground and the average score over the last 10 matches, excluding rain-affected ones, is 285. In Australia's last 10 ODI matches overall, they have won just two, so the odds will be stacked against the hosts. India, on their part, do not have a praiseworthy record either, as they have managed to win only 12 ODIs against Australia in Australia out of the 50 matches played. They have lost 36 while 2 matches have ended without a result.
Out of the 14 games played by India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, they have only won only 5 games and the last win came in 2008.
Shikhar Dhawan, who gave India a rollicking start in Adelaide, needs 33 runs to complete 5,000 runs in ODIs. If he gets to the milestone in Melbourne, he will be the 4th fastest to reach this landmark after Virat Kohli (114), Viv Richards (114) and Hashim Amla (101).
"It was great to see a good team performance in the last one day match against Australia. The way Dhoni played in both the games is really great. I am very happy that Dhoni is getting his touch back. A player of his stature, who plays the game with so much calmness, gives so much confidence to other batsmen. It is very important for us," Dhawan said ahead of the MCG ODI.
The opening combination of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan needs 92 runs to complete 1,000 runs against Australia in ODIs. They will become the first Indian pair and 4th overall to reach this feat against Australia.
Rohit needs 28 runs to become India's highest run-getter at the MCG and he will go past Kris Srikkanth's tally of 368 runs.
