At a venue that has historically been unkind to them in the limited-overs game, India will kickstart their attempt to create a massive slice of history. All summer long, the Sydney Cricket Ground has been in the news for all the wrong reasons; on Sunday, it will offer the platform from which Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men will aspire to return from Australia as the first Indian side to have triumphed in a triangular series.

India have had reasonable Test success at the SCG, but in 11 one-day outings against Australia dating back to December 1980, they haven't had a sniff of victory. It's a record that can, given a chance, heavily weigh any outfit down. Cut from a different cloth, Dhoni has ensured his team doesn't so much as cast a sidelong, surreptitious glance at that damning statistic.

It will be an exaggeration to say that Australia are in disarray, but truth be told, India will not get a better opportunity to put it past the Aussies on their own patch. Riven by niggling stand-offs with their own Board that is now threatening to snowball, Australia have managed to invite upon themselves a siege mentality that is, ironically enough, usually associated with touring teams. Their focus has wavered, and consequently, their skills have been shown up under pressure.

The Aussies haven't had the best preparation leading up to the final, capitulating as they did in amazing fashion to Sri Lanka at the MCG on Friday night. Admittedly, it was a dead rubber with very little at stake in the context of the competition. Even so, to be rolled over for 208 after being 107 without loss in pursuit of 222 for victory must be particularly galling for Ricky Ponting's men who, on the evidence of their performances this summer, have slipped some way from the single-minded ruthless behemoth which crushed oppositions remorselessly in the past.

Susceptibility

India will take heart from Sri Lanka's victory, not because it will leave Australia demoralised and despondent — indeed, if anything, it will charge up the hosts even more — but because it has exposed Aussie susceptibility under pressure. Australia are at their dominant, all-conquering best when they are setting the pace and doing the front-running; for all their undisputed World champion status, however, they have exhibited vulnerability when pushed into a corner. It's for India to identify that corner, and then systematically push their hosts there.

Theoretically, the path to an Indian victory appears simple. Win the toss, put sizeable runs on the board, and ask questions of a side that hasn't always chased well. Australia's only full chase in the tri-series was on Friday, though one defeat hardly constitutes a trend. Saying that, chasing under lights always has that element of risk associated with it, with the danger magnified in a game as significant as the first of the finals.

Dented pride

Friday's defeat has stung, that much is obvious from the lengths the Aussies have gone to try and laugh off the MCG misadventure. Their pride dented, Australia will seek to establish early supremacy. They will come out snarling and aggressive, though hopefully, both sides will lay the verbals to rest. How India respond to Australia's battering ram tactics will decide how game one, and indeed the finals itself, pans out.

India can ill afford to be hesitant and indecisive once the game starts, though on match-eve, Dhoni admitted to 'confusion' as he tried to button down the combination he wants to unleash. The spin-friendly reputation of the SCG -- and particularly with the season almost at an end here — might bring hitherto unused leggie Piyush Chawla into the picture as a surprise package that the Aussies have never encountered before. It will be a big gamble, given Chawla hasn't played a game in more than a month; conversely, Australia's unfamiliarity with the teen's bag of tricks could hurt them. If Chawla does get the nod, it will be a bold, brave move.

India must decide if they want the extra batsman or the additional bowler. Chawla could be the second spin component in a five-bowler unit, or might still miss out if Dhoni opts to go in with four quicks and Harbhajan Singh. Virender Sehwag will only come into the picture if India revert to bolstering the batting against the Australians, though it is by no means certain that Sehwag will upstage Robin Uthappa and occupy the opening slot alongside Sachin Tendulkar. What a conundrum!

A fascinating contest and a little bit — but no more — of needle will be the ideal recipe for Sunday. But what is in store?