In-form Virat Kohli leads the MVP rankings in the IPL with a MVPI of 1062 but David Warner, enjoying a sensational run with the bat and currently at third with a MVPI of 878, has the RCB captain in his sights.
The Indian Playing XI will also have Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Sunday as he replaces Mohammed Shami, who was hit on the leg in his follow through during the third match.
CSK suffered their fifth loss in seven matches, going down by 37 runs to Royal Challengers Bangalore, in Dubai, on Saturday.
For Kohli, who led India to their first Test series victory in Australia but skipped the second half of the New Zealand tour, the series will be the last chance to identify the batsman to fill a middle order spot in an otherwise settled side.
It was only a fourth win in 20 one-dayers going back to June 2017 for world champions Australia and came at the same Sydney Cricket Ground where their first home Test series loss to India was sealed on Monday.
Former Australian skipper Ian Chappell has slammed his country's selectors after the failure of the Australian batting line-up.
'If you had have told me then (he would captain Australia), I certainly wouldn't have believed you, but this game moves fast and sometimes things happen that are quite unexpected and that's exactly what's happened in this scenario.'
Adam Zampa picked up two wickets in a miserly spell of leg spin bowling as Australia edged India by four runs in an enthralling rain-shortened Twenty20 International in Brisbane on Wednesday.
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya bowled in top-flight cricket for the first time since returning from a back surgery more than a year ago, with his team under pressure against Australia during the second ODI in Sydney on Sunday.
Besides preparing for the 16-team World Twenty20 2016, India and South Africa will also aim to improve their positions on the ICC T20I Team Rankings.
Travis Head scored an unbeaten half-century on his home debut to give Australia hope of reeling in India's first innings lead at the close of day two of the first Test on Friday.
Factbox on the four-Test series between Australia and India, which begins on Thursday
Here are different scenarios depending on how the series pans out
Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to outgun title-contenders, Gujarat Lions in a must-win Indian Premier League clash.
Stopping a resurgent Australia would not be easy but a confident India would look to end the series on a high when they compete in the fifth and final ODI match, in Nagpur, on Sunday.
Zampa, who has played in English conditions following a spell at Essex last summer, said communication is the key to success with spin twin Nathan Lyon.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli combined to frustrate Australia for an entire session as India held the whip-hand at 215 for two at the close of a grinding opening day of the third Test in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Following is a fact box on the second Test of the four-match series between Australia and India:
'I know a few of the Surrey guys and they are not what people make them out to be a lot of the time. But if anyone in that dressing room does think they are a big dog, they will need to sit down for a little while because there is a proper big dog coming'
Batsmen Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb and all-rounder Mitchell Marsh were all dropped from the squad that lost a home Test series against India for the first time.
Umesh Yadav starred with the ball as Royal Challengers Bangalore crushed Kings XI Punjab by 10 wickets to keep their hopes alive of making it to the IPL play-offs.
Steve Smith and George Bailey's brilliant knocks overshadowed Rohit Sharma's magnificent 171 as Australia beat India by five wickets in the first ODI of the five-match series in Perth on Tuesday.
Powered by in-form, inspirational leader in Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bangalore would look to inch closer to a maiden Indian Premier League title triumph when they take on table-toppers Gujarat Lions in the Qualifier I, in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Australia rode on a dominating all-round display to thrash a lacklustre India by 72 runs in the first cricket One-dayer in Pune.
Hosts Australia will pull on a classic uniform from the 1980s featuring green strip on bright gold top and pants when they take on India in the three-match ODI series.
With a MVPI of 1128 the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain has set records that even he might find hard to surpass.
Australian pacer Kane Richardson, who grabbed a five-for felt that the dismissal of Mahendra Singh Dhoni proved to be a turning point as the home team recorded a 25-run win against India.
The legendary Indian cricketer was the Man of the ODI series, but the Most Valuable Player title went to an unlikely Aussie, point out Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji.
With home advantage comes home expectation as Eoin Morgan leads arguably the strongest England side in the history of the tournament which has seen a co-host triumph in the last two editions.
Mark Waugh reckons the 25-year-old will succeed at the No 4 spot against Indian spinners.
Purnendu Maji and Srinivas Bhogle list the Most Valuable Players during the India-Australia ODI series.
Yuvraj Singh made a sensational return to international cricket, blasting his way to an unbeaten 35-ball 77 as India beat Australia by six wickets in a high-scoring one-off T20, in Rajkot, on Thursday.
Australian cricket officials were put on alert after the number of cases in the northern beaches outbreak in Sydney reached 28 on Friday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's in-form bowling unit could take a lot of encouragement out of the struggling Australian batting.
The ICC's rating is presumably due to the uneven bounce that became more prevalent later in the recently-concluded second Test between Australia and India.
Rahul has shown a lot of flexibility in the series, first with the bat and then putting his hand up for keeping.
Australia have been in good form in the five-day format and having won a one-day tournament in India last year will be confident and will be looking to do an encore as they face India in the first of the three-match ODI tournament in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders and a transformed Kings XI Punjab cross swords in an Indian Premier League contest in which big-hitting Jamaicans Andre Russell and Chris Gayle will be up against each other in Kolkata on Saturday.
IMAGES from the 1st ODI played in Sydney on Saturday
Having struggled in the past one year after suspensions of Steve Smith and David Warner, Australia finally seemed to have picked their pieces and playing exactly like a five-time champions ought to.
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