Australia captain Michael Clarke has won the toss and elected to bat against India in the Commonwealth Bank Series at Adelaide Oval.
Conditions are perfect with clear skies and a current temperature of 23 degrees.
Following breakout performances in the Test series, national selectors have cast a recent watchful eye on Australia's domestic talent and rewarded a number of in-form cricketers, tasked with shaping the one-day side for the Commonwealth Bank Series with India and Sri Lanka.
Wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, all-rounder Dan Christian and fast bowler Mitchell Starc are the prime examples, who so far have blended exceptionally well with regular one-day internationals Ponting, skipper Michael Clarke and the Hussey twins in Australia's opening two victories of the tri-series.
Despite scoring only one against Sri Lanka in the thrilling five-win victory at the WACA ground on Friday, Victorian wicket keeper Wade has tormented India in the short formats and for a third consecutive game will be their biggest threat.
Wade backed up his destructive efforts of 72 and 32 in the T20 double-header against India with a quickfire 67 off 69 balls in the first-one day encounter in Melbourne.
He is joined in the side by Test prospect Peter Forrest who after just missing out on selection for Friday's gripping win will make his ODI debut at the expense of veteran Mike Hussey who is being rested.
India will also have to be wary of a spirited Australian bowling attack keen to continue to prove doubters wrong.
After being labelled 'weak' by Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, Australia's bowlers returned fire and responded with a match-winning performance.
Starc, Christian and Tasmanian spinner Xavier Doherty took multiple wickets and were at their devastating best in a display one-day captain Clarke credited for halting the Sri Lankans just short of Australia's modest total of 231.
Unlike the Australians, India's summer has been in disarray and continues to throw up problematic issues for the cricketing powerhouse.
The latest comes in the form of the highly-publicised rotation policy used by captain MS Dhoni to accommodate the talented Rohit Sharma in the middle-order.
Sharma, who was in red-hot form following his starring performances against the West Indies in late 2011, has scored just 21 and 10 against Australia and Sri Lanka respectively in the initial two fixtures of the tri-series.
Shaky performances with the bat suggest the 24-year-old may be feeling the pressure to perform with his spot in the side being at the expense of top-order batsman Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir so far.
The heat is only further set to increase on the middle-order batsman with the late decision by India to rest Sachin Tendulkar – one sure to cop fierce criticism given the little master's impeccable record in Australia and if Sharma fails to fire - as the 38-year-old's wait for his 100th century goes on.
All-rounder Mitchell Marsh will carry the drinks for Australia while Praveen Kumar is the 12th man for India.
Australia: Matthew Wade (wk), David Warner, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke (c), David Hussey, Peter Forrest, Daniel Christian, Clint McKay, Mitchell Starc, Ryan Harris, Xavier Doherty, Mitchell Marsh (12th man)
India: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ranganath Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Praveen Kumar (12th man)