Whisper it quietly but the Australian cricket team is in India for a two-Test, three-ODI tour.

The tour officially got underway overnight with the Australians batting first against a Presidents XI in their only warm-up match. Australia closed on 1/319 with openers Katich and Watson both recording centuries and Clarke and Ponting unbeaten 40s.

You'd be forgiven for not being aware of this considering the lack of attention the tour has received to date. With footy finals distracting Australian sports fans and international cricket coverage focussed on the CLT20 and the fiasco that is Pakistan's tour of England, now is hardly an opportune moment to embark on a pre-Ashes PR exercise.

Despite this apparent lack of interest, the tour should be of great importance to both sides.

Though Ricky Ponting may talk about the Test series as an opportunity to "get back up near the number one ranking", the reality is that ambition is a long way off for his fourth-ranked side. More pressing is the final opportunity the tour provides to establish the line up for November's first Ashes Test at The Gabba. If captaining a side to two Ashes defeats could be considered careless, three would surely be terminal.

Frustratingly, the issues the two-Test series hopes to resolve remain near identical to those posed as long ago as the summer 2009 tour to South Africa. Decisions regarding whether Philip Hughes opens, where in the order Shane Watson bats, Marcus North's place in the side and which three quicks will support Nathan Hauritz in the bowling attack remain inconclusive.

Of these, the situation regarding Marcus North is of greatest concern. The West Australian averages just 30 in his last ten Tests, scoring just one century in that time. Both Philip Hughes and Steven Smith are amongst the touring party and both present strong, youthful cases for inclusion. Such difficult decisions will offer an insight into the influence of Greg Chappell in his newly created role as National Talent Manager and Australian cricket's first full-time selector.

I would like to see Hughes replace North and Watson moved to the middle order, probably to five, to enable Mike Hussey to nurse the tail at six. I would also put Mitchell Johnson on notice that with the strength in depth of Australian pace bowlers he needs to prove his worth ahead of a vital Ashes series. The tour also provides Tim Paine with the opportunity to prove he is more than just an understudy to injured gloveman Brad Haddin. A strong showing behind the stumps and valuable runs down the order may even lead to Paine retaining his place come the summer.

Aside from the raw emotions of recent hostile clashes between the sides, India will be keen to prove they are worthy leaders of the ICC Test Championship. They remain unbeaten in their last seven Test series, a run of success that began the last time they hosted Australia, back in 2008. In that time they have lost just two Test matches and only once at home.

Personal milestones await Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar during Australia's visit. The Little Master is just 163 runs away from becoming the first batsman to score 14,000 in Tests. To put that in perspective, that's over 3,000 more than Steve Waugh accumulated in his career in almost exactly the same number of games.

The series also encompasses the 2010 ICC Awards, which will be presented in Bangalore prior to the second test. Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag are shortlisted in both the Test and Overall Player of the Year categories while Tendulkar is nominated alongside Australians Ryan Harris and Shane Watson for the ODI honour.

With cricket attracting attention for the wrong reasons, a match-up involving two of the game's powerhouses could be just what is needed to galvanise the sport. Alternatively, India's increasingly poor Test-match attendances could intensify the calls for the ICC to speed up the implementation of a new Test Championship.

This summer's main course may well be the anticipated Ashes series against England but the Indian hors d'oeuvres are here and it's time to tuck in.