KL Rahul almost forgot that his last ODI innings resulted in a century for India. It is also easy to forget that Australia and India played a three-match ODI series earlier this year. It has been such a turbulent year that everyone just wants cricket to begin.

Today's encounter will be the first cricket match at the Sydney Cricket Ground this season. The winter rugby codes stretched well into October, meaning the ground staff had minimal time to repair and prepare the pitch.