Australia vs India 2018-19: Will Sydney weather play spoilsport in 1st ODI at SCG?

Virat Kohli and his team are riding a wave of confidence after their historic Test series win in Australia. They now take the field on Saturday for the first ODI of the three-match series, at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

India missed an opportunity to win the Test series 3-1 as rain washed out the fifth day of the final Test match in Sydney. The weather has been unusual and unpredictable this summer in Sydney; the weather hasn't improved a lot since the fourth Test.

Cloudy weather and intermittent rain have forced a majority of the training to be done indoors over the last few days. It rained heavily in Sydney on Friday (11 January 2019) evening as well.

The weather forecast at the moment has some good news for the fans as it is expected to be sunny throughout match day, with no rain predicted. However, considering the recent weather patterns, there is a possibility that the forecast may change in the coming hours.

India have dominated Australia on this tour so far. While the T20 series was shared, the visitors had the upper hand in at least two of the three matches, before rain intervened.

In the Tests, they were phenomenal in Adelaide, MCG, and SCG, and beat Australia in all the departments of the game. Kohli's men would look forward to continuing the winning momentum, and the process of fine-tuning the squad for the 2019 World Cup will be a high priority for the team management.

Rohit Sharma has joined the team back after missing out on the final Test in Sydney. But the controversies with KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya may prompt India to change the team combination for the first ODI.

India are yet to announce the playing XI for the Sydney match, while Australian captain Aaron Finch has announced the hosts' lineup. Peter Siddle makes a comeback to the white-ball format after a long time, and Nathan Lyon will carry the spin department responsibilities with Adam Zampa being dropped.