There you go, in case you missed it, India’s latest jersey. A throwback to 1992. Yay or nay?

(Courtesy: BCCI / Twitter)

08.40 pm: TOSS: Australia have won the toss and Aaron Finch opts to bat first at SCG.

08.19 am: First things first. In classic BCCI fashion, we received important updates close to midnight Indian time on Thursday. Rohit Sharma had to return to India from UAE to be with his ailing father, and now, Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the Test series. T Natarajan, meanwhile, added to India’s ODI squad.

After Virat Kohli calls for clarity, BCCI say Rohit Sharma’s fitness will be assessed on December 11

08.15 am: Hello all and welcome to the live coverage of a significant moment in 2020: the return to action of the Indian men’s cricket team at the international stage.

By most accounts, 2020 has been a bizarre one for sport and cricket has been no exception. In an era where international cricket is almost non-stop, no one would have imagined it would take 270 days (that’s 73.77% of the year) between international matches for the Indian men’s team.

But here we are. We are not just welcoming the Indian team back in action, we are also witnessing the return of spectators to the venue for a cricket match. A matter of little concern in the years past, but one that is of immeasurable significance in 2020.

The lack of international cricket this year makes it hard to determine form, although Australia head into the white-ball series on the back of beating 50-over world champions England in September.

India haven’t played together since a tour of New Zealand in February, when they clinched the Twenty20 series but were whitewashed 3-0 in the ODIs and 2-0 in the Tests.

But they can take solace from winning their last Test and ODI series in Australia two summers ago.

What’s in store over the next few weeks Down Under? We can’t wait to find out.

(With AFP inputs)