Shuffling of the pack could be on the cards in the Reliance ICC ODI Championship table when three of the four top ranked sides go head to head in the three-nation tournament which starts in Melbourne on Sunday. Incidentally, the tri-series format returns to Australia for the first time in four years, with the same three sides-Australia, India and Sri Lanka- participating as in its last edition in 2008.

Number-one ranked and four-time former world champion Australia sits pretty on 130 ratings points, leading second-ranked current world champion India by 14 ratings points with fourth-ranked 1996 world champion Sri Lanka another five ratings points behind.

The highly anticipated Auction for Season 5 of Indian Premier League got underway on Saturday morning with high expectations. The big news at the start of the auction was the withdrawal of the Pune Warriors from the process and the announcement made by Sahara, the franchise owners, to pull out from all sponsorship of Indian cricket.

That left just 8 teams competing for the players up for grabs today, and a cloud of mystery surrounding the fate of the Pune players, who were not included in this auction.

The first set of 5 players drawn from the lot were categorized under the marquee player category. The first player under the lot was Brendon McCulum of New Zealand, the belligerent wicket keeper batsman, was sold to KKR for 900,000 dollars from a base price of 400000 USD.

The Commonwealth Bank Tri-series involving hosts Australia, The World Cup Champions, India and the World Cup runners-up, Sri Lankan begins on Sunday with the first ODI between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. After a 4-0 mauling in the Test series and the embarrassing surrender in the opening T20, Team India finally found that elusive spark of inspiration in the second T20 game to signal an end to their 16 match win-less streak on foreign soil. MS Dhoni and his merry men will be bubbling with confidence to carry forward the slight momentum into the Triangular series. The Awesome Aussies, who have won 18 of the 29 home triangular tournaments, will remain ruthless in their quest to knock over the Asian stars and regain their supremacy in ODI cricket.

Australia:

Australia have the arsenal to overpower any opposition on the planet. Their batsmen are in prime form, their bowlers have tied down the famed Indian batting unit and they pride themselves on their fielding.

Another dramatic day in a series that is amazingly short of runs saw Pakistan bowled out for an obnoxiously low score of 99 on a decent batting track in Dubai. England barely did any better in their first essay, managing to battle their way through the day to 104/6 to take a 5 run lead at the close of play on Day 1 of the Third Test. While the England pacers did most of the damage in the morning session, the Pakistani spinners were threatening to come into their own by the end of the day, leaving this match both tantalizingly poised, and for all practical purposes certain of yet another 3-day finish.

Pakistan won the toss and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq had no hesitation in opting to bat first. The hosts made one change to their series winning side for this game, bringing back pace bowler Aizaz Cheema for Junaid Khan. England slightly surprisingly opted to retain the same side for this game, giving left-handed Irishman Eoin Morgan another opportunity to impess.

A match-winning half century from Gautam Gambhir coupled with an outstanding effort in the field from the Indians helped the visitors register their first win of the Australian summer in the 2nd T20 at Melbourne. Australia tweaked their line-up for this game, and the change in personnel coupled with some brilliance from the Indian fielders saw the hosts bowled out for a well below par score of 131. India affected 4 run outs, including two from Ravindra Jadeja, who also bowled 3 rather economical overs to pick up 1-16. A rare good start from the Indian top order saw them ease to an 8 wicket win, though the fact that they got there with 2 balls to spare did no justice to the ease with which they controlled the run chase.

It was another opportunity for Australia to make first use of a fresh pitch, as the hosts won the toss at the 2nd T20 International in Melbourne and opted to bat. There were changes galore in the Australian line-up with Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh and Clint McKay coming into the side, with Travis Birt, Dan Christian and James Faulkner the benched trio. India meanwhile were understandably unchanged, opting not to axe any non-performers after just a solitary game. For India though that meant they continued to go into this game with a 2 seamer - 3 spinner combination.

The jerseys might have changed, the format might have changed, the composition of the teams might have changed but India's misery down under showed no signs of abating as the touring party slumped to another shameful surrender which saw them lose the opening T20 in Sydney by 31 runs. The Indian limited overs side will have to hit its straps quickly to break the Aussie jinx and carry some vital momentum forward into the Commonwealth Bank Tri series that begins on February 5th. The Aussies, on a roll at the moment will go all out when they collide with the beleaguered Indians in the final T20 game at Melbourne on Friday to clinch the short series 2-0.

Australia:

The Australians thoroughly outplayed the Indians in all departments of the game to cruise to a comfortable win at the Olympic Park in Sydney. George Bailey, the first Australian to skipper the side on debut since the 1800s made the right moves and put all the doubts regarding his leadership skills to rest. The promotion of Matthew Wade to the top of the order proved to be a masterstroke where he slammed a 43 ball 72 to leave the Indian bowling in disarray. The Australian captain marshaled his resources expertly and outshone his counterpart, MS Dhoni, who failed to read the pitch and quite shockingly elected to field first after winning the toss.