India vs. Australia, 5th ODI: Date, Time, TV Info, Squad News and Preview

The washout in Ranchi left Australia leading the series 2-1 with three games to play. As the action moves south to Cuttack, Bleacher Report takes a look at who will make the next move, weather permitting, in this enthralling contest.

Venue: Barabati Stadium, Cuttack

Date: Saturday, October 26 2013 

Start time: 09:00 BST 

Live on: Sky Sports 2

Weather: The weather does not look good according to BBC.co.uk. Rain and thundery showers are forecast and have been present for a few days preventing the players from practicing. More info on ThatsCricket.com.

Overview

Despite one of the great ODI knocks from MS Dhoni, Australia got over the line in Mohali thanks primarily to James Faulkner's blistering 64 off 29 balls. And with Game 4 being washed out, the Baggy Greens are in prime position to clinch this series with only three fixtures remaining. 

Both team's willow-wielders are clearly enjoying the conditions. In particular George Bailey, who has collected a staggering 318 runs in just four games inevitably increasing his Ashes selection hype, while Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have scored more than two hundred runs each.

But the main area of interest for this match is with the ball. Will one of the team's bowling departments finally take a game by the scruff of the neck?

Up until now, most of them must feel like unwanted guests at a birthday party. They turn up, deliver the ball and then wait for it to be returned from the boundary.

For India, the only bright spots are Vinay Kumar's medium pace which has picked up seven wickets and Shami Ahmed, who grabbed his opportunity to replace Ishant Sharma with both hands to pick up three wickets for 42.

Their normally reliable spin attack has posed little attacking threat although Ravindra Jadeja is the only man on either side to post an economy rate of less than five (apart from Aaron Finch, who only bowled four balls).

Mitchell Johnson aside, the Australians have been similarly innocuous, with most of the paceman going for over a run-a-ball and the spin partnership of Adam Voges and Xavier Doherty collecting just one wicket.

Left-armer Johnson continues to look the most threatening seamer on either side, bowling with pace and aggression but will hope to add to his wicket tally of five, four of which came in one game.

As for the venue, India haven't lost at the Barabati Stadium since 2003 although they have only played four games at the Deccan Chargers home since then.

Team News

India (from): MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Jaydev Unadkat, Vinay Kumar, Yuvraj Singh.

Australia (from): Aaron Finch, Phil Hughes, Shane Watson, George Bailey (c), Glenn Maxwell, Adam Voges, Brad Haddin (wk), James Faulkner, Mitchell Johnson, Clint McKay, Xavier Doherty. Nathan Coulter-Nile, Callum Ferguson, Moises Henriques.

Key Players

MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni, who else? The master finisher, purveyor of more haircuts than David Beckham and coolest cat in cricket. The pressure of captaining India never seems to affect him, and his innings at Mohali should act as a textbook for batsman of every level.

He may not be at the top of the ODI batsman rankings, primarily because he bats fairly low in the order, but when a wicket falls and the wicketkeeper-batsman walks to the crease, there's nobody else in world cricket you would want to guide you home.

Dhoni averages 52.90 in ODIs over the course of his career and 158.00 per innings in this series so far.

James Faulkner

Making his initial breakthrough at the 2013 IPL, James Faulkner became better known when he criticised England's approach in the final Ashes Test despite having just a single appearance at the highest level to his name.

But this series against India has enabled the Tasmanian agitator to further establish himself on the international scene, and the all-rounder did just that with a match-winning knock in Game 3.

If Faulkner can produce a bowling performance to the same level as his rapid run-scoring then England may be facing a potent weapon in the upcoming five-Test Ashes series.

Prediction

It is clear that on a decent surface these sides are evenly matched. With so little to split them, Australia get the nod for their superior pace bowling department, but it really is 50/50. The main worry is the weather and whether there will be a game at all.