Australia vs. India, 5th ODI: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

India are staring down the barrel of an embarrassing whitewash after losing the first four contests of their five-game ODI series with Australia.

With the action moving to Sydney, can MS Dhoni's men finally pull a victory out of the bag and salvage a modicum of pride? Or will the Baggy Greens increase their unbeaten home run to 20 games?

Let's take a look at how these two sides are shaping up ahead of the final tussle of this series.

Date: Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016

Time: 2:20 p.m. local (3:20 a.m. GMT)

Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney

Live Stream and TV Info: Channel Nine (Australia), Sky Sport (New Zealand), Super Sport (South Africa), Star Sports (India), Sky Sports (UK)

Weather: According to the BBC's weather department, a mix of sunshine and rain is forecast during the afternoon, meaning this clash could be a rain-affected affair.

Overview

With just 72 runs required from 75 balls and nine wickets in the bank, India should never have lost the Canberra ODI.

As it is, thanks to Kane Richardson, John Hastings and a collapse that saw nine wickets fall for just 46 runs, the possibility of a humiliating 5-0 scoreline is still on the cards at the SCG.

Some of India's batsmen must be wondering what's going on.

Mark Nolan/Getty Images

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are the two leading scorers in the series, while Shikhar Dhawan's ton in the Australian capital was the fifth century registered by an Indian player over the four games.

What's more, India have produced totals of 309, 308, 295 and 323, scores with which you would usually expect to win more games than you'd lose.

Unfortunately for the visitors, Australia's pitches are often high-scoring utopias, and a par score in ODI cricket is closer to the 350 mark these days.

Additionally, they've also come up against a home side that's flush with confidence and equally capable of producing masterclass run chases as well as ultra-calm displays of death bowling (and that's without Mitchell Starc).

The Baggy Greens are so dominant on their own turf that their win at Canberra means they're unbeaten over their last 19 home games, which is a world record. 

A staggering fact considering the fine lines that often decide ODI games.

India have a record breaker of their own, too, of course.

Kohli's ton at Canberra was his 25th in ODI cricket and came from just 162 innings, which is 72 fewer innings than the next fastest batsman (Sachin Tendulkar) needed to register his 25th ODI ton.

But even Kohli's flashing blade doesn't seem to be able to stop the rampant Baggy Greens, who, despite integrating a handful of new players, seem unstoppable at the moment.

All of their batsmen seem in form, while a rotation policy has allowed them to keep their pace attack fresh.

MS Dhoni's men's one hope is that Australia, with the series already done and dusted, take their foot off the gas and allow their opponents a chance. Fingers crossed, MS...

Recent ODI record (most recent L-R)

Australia: WWWWWL

India: LLLLLW

Head-to-head record

These two countries have contested 122 ODIs in total with Australia boasting a 72-40 advantage over India. The Baggy Greens' record Down Under is even more formidable where they've won 35 from 47 encounters compared to India's 10 successes.

Squads

Given the almost dead-rubber nature of this contest, expect both teams to shuffle their packs, particularly in the bowling departments. 

For Australia, as reported by the Indian Express, Glenn Maxwell is a doubt after being struck on the knee during the Canberra ODI.

Australia: Steven Smith (capt), Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, John Hastings, Matthew Wade (wk), James Faulkner, Kane Richardson, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, David Warner, Nathan Lyon.

India's Ajinkya Rahane required stitches in his hand during the Canberra ODI so could also miss out.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh, Rishi Dhawan, Barinder Sran.

Key Players

With runs dominating this series, let's go for two batsmen who could decide this final game with their brutal strokeplay.

Australia

David Warner missed two games recently due to the birth of his second child but showed no signs of rustiness on his return with a fluent 92-ball innings of 93. Whatever the format, the powerful left-hander knows only one way to play the game, and the 29-year-old will be a key early wicket for the Indians if they're going to give themselves a chance here.

India

Similar to Warner's role, Rohit Sharma will attempt to get his side off to a flyer and has been in scintillating form throughout this series. An unbeaten 171 at Perth was the highlight, but his last innings at Canberra, where he smashed 41 from 24 balls, could be the way forward in terms of setting a—for once—match-winning total.

 

Who will win?

While India are surely due a victory sooner or later, it is hard to back against Australia on the hallowed SCG turf, especially with the chance of completing a whitewash acting as a huge incentive.

If India can make some rare, early inroads, then they have a chance, but will they be able to completely shut down the Aussies' power-packed top order? We'll find out shortly.