Stand-in Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has won the toss and elected to bat first against tri-series leaders India at the Gabba.

Ponting had no hesitation to bat first on what appears to be a hard and fast Brisbane track, conducive to high scoring, in warm and muggy conditions.

Australia have made one change to the side which slumped to an eight-wicket loss to Sri Lanka on Friday night with in-form Test paceman Ben Hilfenhaus making his return to international one-day cricket.

Hilfenhaus replaces leading wicket-taker Clint McKay who was not considered due to illness.

India have also made one change with veteran fast bowler Zaheer Khan overcoming a calf injury to replace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar will again get another chance to post his 100th international century, which has been eagerly anticipated for the past 11 months.

India (10 points) lead the tri-series table at the halfway point of a tight competition, with Australia on (9) and Sri Lanka (7) not far behind.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Matthew Wade, David Warner, Peter Forrest, Mike Hussey, David Hussey, Dan Christian, Brett Lee, Mitchell Starc, Ben Hilfenhaus, Xavier Doherty.

India: MS Dhoni (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Irfan Pathan, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Zaheer Khan.