India-Australia ODIs: All you need to know

When is it?

Australia's one-day squad arrived in Mumbai last week for a quick three-match tour of India. After a few days of acclimatisation, the Aussies will take on Virat Kohli's side in three ODIs in six days, with matches in Mumbai, Rajkot and Bengaluru.

First ODI: Tuesday January 14, Mumbai, 7.30pm AEDT (2pm local time)

Second ODI: Friday January 17, Rajkot, 7.30pm AEDT (2pm local time)

Third ODI: Saturday January 19, Bengaluru, 7.30pm AEDT (2pm local time)

How can I watch?

As with all of Australia's overseas tours outside the Ashes, the ODIs against India will be broadcast live in Australia on Fox Cricket and streamed on Kayo Sports. 

You can sign up to Kayo today for a free 14-day trial that gives you access to every single ball of the Australian summer of cricket as well as a host of other sports, all live on your favourite device.

Cricket.com.au will also have exclusive news and videos from our team on the ground in India, plus live scores and match highlights from every game.

It's January – shouldn't Australia be playing at home?

Normally that would be the case and it is certainly unprecedented in the modern era for the Australian men's team to be playing abroad at this time of year.

A log-jam of fixtures over the 2019-20 season and India's commitment to tour New Zealand in February has seen this series brought forward to the middle of January.

The fact Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Asian nations all play their home season in the same months has always led to complications in the international schedule, and this is the first time in almost 50 years that Australia have toured abroad at the height of summer.

The Aussies did play an ODI abroad in January three years ago – starting their three-match series in New Zealand on January 30, 2017 – but not since 1960 have they played overseas so early in the year. That was in an era where tours abroad over summer were a regular occurrence; between 1935 and 1970, Australia would often tour countries like South Africa and India in December and January to reciprocate for when those nations would travel to Australia at the height of their seasons.

Won't these ODIs clash with the KFC BBL?

The matches against India start at 7.30pm AEDT so there will be an afternoon Big Bash game on those days, meaning the ODIs will start just as the BBL action is wrapping up. There will be a clash for the final ODI on Saturday January 19; a BBL double-header is scheduled for that day so once the afternoon Big Bash game wraps up, fans will have a choice between more BBL or the ODI.

And the once the ODIs are over, Australia's biggest names will return to their Big Bash clubs for the rest of the season, giving the competition an enormous boost heading into the finals. It means players like Steve Smith, Josh Hazlewood (Sydney Sixers), Alex Carey (Adelaide Strikers) and Adam Zampa (Melbourne Stars) will be back at their clubs for the pointy end of the BBL season.

There are still home ODIs this season, right?

Yes – New Zealand will return to Australia in mid-March for a three-match ODI series, a campaign that has been delayed because of the aforementioned scheduling clash this summer.

Games will be in Sydney (on March 13 and 15) and Hobart (on March 20), the latest an Australian summer of international cricket has run in 41 years.

And this won't be any ordinary series; both teams will wear retro uniforms that were picked by fans last year, while the matches in Sydney will also serve as an important fundraiser for the recent bushfire disaster, with emergency services personnel to be given free admission at the SCG.

Squads

India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vc & wk), Pat Cummins (vc), Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner, Adam Zampa

Players to watch

This series will likely mark the ODI debut of Marnus Labuschagne, who will look to transfer his golden Test form into the limited-overs game for the first time. The Queenslander has performed strongly in white-ball cricket for the Bulls in the past and looks likely to join Steve Smith in the middle order as Australia begin their build towards the 2023 World Cup, which will also be held in India.

From an Indian point of view, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will be back in ODI cricket having been sidelined since August with a serious back injury. The speedy right-armer is the top-ranked ODI bowler in the world for a reason and will be sure to give the Aussie top order a thorough examination over the three games.

The series will also feature three of the top-10 ranked ODI batters in the world (Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and David Warner) as well as three of the top 10 bowlers (Bumrah, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc) so there will be plenty of star power on show.

Australia Qantas ODI Tour of India 2020

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (vc), Pat Cummins (vc), Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India squad: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami.

First ODI: January 14, Mumbai (D/N) (Fox & Kayo)

Second ODI: January 17, Rajkot (D/N) (Fox & Kayo)

Third ODI: January 19, Bengaluru (D/N) (Fox & Kayo)