IND v AUS 2020, 1st ODI: India's predicted playing XI

The Indian men's cricket team is finally set to return to international cricket with the limited-overs leg of the tour of Australia.

While Australia's last visit to India saw the visitors clinch a hard-fought 5-match series despite being 2-0 down at one point, both teams have undergone change in personnel since.

The biggest concern for Team India will be the absence of opener and vice-captain Rohit Sharma, who is still under a yet-unresolved injury cloud. However, with several exciting top-order prospects, the team looks to have its bases covered in the batting department. With Virat Kohli and KL Rahul showing their worth in the intra-squad warm up games, expect a solid batting performance from the Men in Blue.

Here is the predicted playing XI for the first India vs Australia ODI on 27th November.

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Openers: Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan

Dependable ODI batsman Dhawan could be the experienced head in India's opening pair.

After a bit of a lull in all formats which saw him lose his place entirely from the Test setup and fall behind in T20s, Shikhar Dhawan forced his way back into contention after a strong IPL 2020.

Over the course of the tournament, he became the first batsman to score back-to-back hundreds and put in vital contributions even as the fragile DC top order often imploded around him. Expect him to be the experienced half of the opening pair.

The next spot is a bit of a battle between three younger players - Mayank Agarwal, Sanju Samson and Shubman Gill. While Gill has been a consistent run-aggregator domestically ever since his breakthrough U-19 World Cup season in 2018, the other two have more domestic and IPL experience.

The most impressive of the lot by some margin in IPL 2020 was Mayank, whose century among several other strong contributions at the top ensured KXIP had solid opening stands. One can expect Gill's technique to be favoured over Samson's erratic aggression in case a backup opener is needed.

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Middle order: Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk)

While Iyer seems to have sealed India's No. 4 spot, the team management will have the final say.

After a roaring IPL 2020, which followed a strong showing for India internationally as a wicket-keeper batsman, KL Rahul will be one of the first names on the team sheet after Indian captain Virat Kohli.

The experiment with Rahul at No. 5 is all set to continue as the team attempts to make the most of the available batsmen - more so, he looks unlikely to move around being one of just two wicket-keeper batsmen named.

The No. 4 slot has been claimed by Shreyas Iyer after a dependable show internationally, followed by a strong IPL season - 519 runs - with the bat for DC. However, his relative slowdown towards the close of the season could mean he enters this series not in the best of touch.

Breathing down his neck, therefore, would be Manish Pandey, who has been around in the setup for a while and even scored a century on India's hapless ODI tour of Australia the last time. If Rahul moves to the top order, both could potentially get a go.

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All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja

Jadeja enhanced his finishing reputation in IPL 2020, as did Hardik Pandya.

Played as a pure batsman in IPL 2020 due to MI's luxury of options, India would look to use Hardik Pandya at No. 6. He has shown his prowess as a specialist batsman, and if he can produce at least enough overs to support a bowler having a rough day, India would be more than content, as this would be in addition to his skills as fielder and finisher.

Another player who surprisingly threw his hat into the finisher ring in IPL 2020 was Ravindra Jadeja, who was anyway an all-round fixture for India. Even though his returns with the ball waned, Jadeja struck the ball at over 200 at the death in IPL 2020.

The southpaw took CSK home by the skin of their teeth on a few occasions, and the batting assurance from these two allows India to trust pure bowlers to make the rest of the team.

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Bowlers: Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal

Bumrah will look to spearhead the bowling along with Shami in Australia.

An average start to IPL 2020 was shaken off by Jasprit Bumrah as he quickly ascended to become one of the league's leading wicket-takers. Notoriously difficult to put away at the death, and on occasion used to attack within the powerplay, Bumrah will be one of the lynchpins of the bowling lineup.

Equally impressive in IPL 2020 was Mohammed Shami, who has little to prove after having been one of the leaders of the Indian bowling attack for a while now. The battle between Bumrah and Shami was thrilling to watch in IPL 2020, especially in the Super Over between MI and KXIP, and India will be pleased to have the duo in top form.

RCB duo Navdeep Saini and Yuzvendra Chahal will make up the other two bowlers. While fellow wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav has faded into oblivion after a very strong 2018, Chahal too came under attack, but has found ways to stay relevant.

Saini's extra pace puts him ahead of Shardul Thakur in the pecking order, although the Mumbai medium-quick could come in as a bowling all-rounder in case India need some batting cover.