The World T20 will be the focus for both teams as India and Australia play the 1st T20 in Adelaide on Friday.
With Australia and India naming big squads with several are-they-the-right-choice players, the key to this three-match series will be settling on the XI that will be primed for a T20 World Cup title tilt.
[Get the 1st T20 as it happened HERE]
India and Australia have gone the experience way, with the Men in Blue banking on the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra, while the Aussies have given recalls to Shaun "the Wild Thing" Tait and Shane Watson.
[Watch all the highlights from the 1st T20 HERE]
"It's important to have the right mix of experience and youth," India team director Ravi Shastri told reporters. "There is no shortcut for experience."
Yuvraj's selection is the most intriguing, considering the left-hander's career seemed over after that abysmal final knock against Sri Lanka in World T20 2014. However, the man who hit six sixes off six balls in the inaugural T20 has worked his way up into being considered, and with India lacking a proper, reliable big-hitter towards the end of the innings, the return of Yuvraj seemed the right move to make for the selectors.
"He's an impact player with a proven record," Shastri said about Yuvraj. "He has got a fabulous record in T20 cricket, he's explosive and he's a matchwinner. If he fires early for us, nothing like it.
It remains to be seen, though, if Yuvraj will get a chance to make an impression in the first T20 in Adelaide, even if MS Dhoni hinted at the inclusion of the players who have flown down for this series.
While Yuvraj is an exciting act, another one of those will be Hardik Pandya, who has impressed in domestic cricket again. The right-hander could be the long-term solution in all forms of limited-overs cricket to India's final-overs-hitting problems, and if Pandya, provided he is given a chance, grabs the opportunity with both hands, much like Manish Pandey did in the ODIs, India's balance will look a lot better.
While Australia will look to Tait and Watson to make immediate impacts, there is also the exciting prospect of watching Chris Lynn and Travis Head, two batsmen who tonked bowlers for fun in the BBL. The explosive duo will want to make an impression, with Glenn Maxwell set to sit out the first T20I through injury.
Uncapped fast bowler Andrew Tye is another one to watch, while Nathan Lyon will want to lock his place in the team for the World T20.
Where to Watch Live
India vs Australia 1st T20 is scheduled for a 7.10 pm local time (2.10 pm IST, 8.40 am GMT, 3.40 am ET) start. Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD 1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD3 will broadcast the first match of the T20 series live on TV in India. Starsports.com and Hotstar are the websites which will show the ODI match by live streaming online.
Channel 9 will broadcast the match live in Australia, while the online live stream option is on Cricket Australia Live.
Sky Sports 1 is the channel to watch the match in the UK, while the live streaming option is on Watch Sky Sports and Sky Go. Willow TV will broadcast the match live in the US, while all the action can be live streamed on Willow TV Online.
Viewers in the Middle East can catch the T20 match live on OSN Cricket, with the live stream option on OSN Play. Audience in South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa can watch the match live on SuperSport, with the live streaming online option on SuperSport Live.
