Behrendorff debuts for opening ODI

Jason Behrendorff has received his ODI cap but will have to wait to bowl after Australia captain Aaron Finch won the toss and opted to bat in the first Gillette ODI with India at the SCG.

India captain Virat Kohli has an outrageous record when his team is chasing, but the India skipper indicated he would have preferred to bat first at the coin toss.

The Aussies lost Aaron Finch early as he was bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the India seamer's 100th ODI wicket, with Usman Khawaja coming in at No.3, although Shaun Marsh had been listed in that position on the official team sheet.

Australia may take a fluid approach to their batting order, with Glenn Maxwell listed to bat at No.7 the most likely to move up the order, with any such change to be dictated by the game position.

Marsh has been under fire after well below-par returns in Test cricket, but he's been Australia's in-form batsman in 50-over cricket for the past 12 months and his ability to continue that streak will be pivotal to Australia's chances.

The SCG clash will likely mark the final time MS Dhoni plays for India at the historic venue, with huge crowds turning out to see the legendary wicketkeeper batsman train this week.

India were rocked in the lead-up to this match by a sexism scandal involving key players Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul, with both suspended and recalled home by India's governing body after comments about women they made on an Indian chat show.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) banned the pair with immediate effect after fallout from the talk show earlier this week.

The pair will miss the entire three-match Gillette ODI series in Australia followed by the tour of New Zealand, with the BCCI set to name replacements in due course

Behrendorff was thrilled to receive his cap from Australia legend McGrath as he becomes the 227th player to represent Australia in ODI cricket.

The towering left-armer has played five T20 internationals, including two against India at the start of their long tour of Australia in November.

He gets an opportunity to push for a World Cup spot after Cricket Australia opted to rest start fast-bowling trio Mitch Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood for the three-match series ahead of two Domain Tests against Sri Lanka.

Having battled his way back from recurring back injuries, Behrendorff and Western Australia made the decision in the off-season to forgo the first half of the JLT Sheffield Shield seas
The move has paid off for the 28-year-old, who earned a T20I call-up against India and now makes his 50-over debut alongside state teammate Jhye Richardson.

"It's something that's worked and paid dividends so far, with focusing on the short format at the moment, giving my body a chance to adapt and get used to that," Behrendorff said last week.

"To get picked for Australia in the ODI format is excellent."

Australia XI: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (wk), Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Lyon, Peter Siddle, Jason Behrendorff.

India XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Ambati Rayudu, Dinsh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed.