Daijiworld Media Network

Gabba, Jan 15 : The weather. Bright, sunny and comfortable for now. There is talk of rain late afternoon but the balance of probability suggests it won't be much of a factor. The pitch looks another beauty. Faulkner dropped a veiled grumble at the pre-match presser as he failed to recollect when the pitch did have something for the bowlers. 'This outfield is super quick. There will be a lot of runs. This is probably the best wicket in Australia at the moment. There are two cracks on this pitch, but I don't think it will be a concern. Even covering of grass means consistent bounce. You bat first, but maybe with a bit of rain around, the captain who wins the toss might bat second,' reckon Dean Jones and Damien Martyn in the pitch report.

India have won the toss and have opted to bat

Smith: 'We have made three changes. We have got Richardson in for Hazlewood, he deserves a break. Shaun Marsh comes in for David Warner and Hastings gets a game for the rested Mitch Marsh. He's been playing well, everytime he has gone back to Big Bash or domestic cricket, he has scored runs and he deserves a chance with Warner not here because of the birth of his second child. It has been a fortress for us in all forms of cricket (talking about the Gabba). Looks a pretty good wicket. Hopefully, we can restrict them to a good total and chase it down. We had wickets in the shed so we could time the chase really well in the last game.'

Dhoni: 'We are batting first. It looks like a good wicket, so we want to put runs on the board. It would have been good to get 20-25 runs more in the last match. There were quite a few misfields by the bowlers themselves. If we get 310 on this wicket, I think it could be a good total. The bowlers will now have a fair idea about what lengths to bowl. I think what's important to see is how the wickets are prepared. You look at the wicket and the conditions, then decide what you want to do. In place of Bhuvi, we have Ishant Sharma.'