An injury to fast bowler Kane Richardson has seen Ashes summer hero Scott Boland added to the extended squad.
Richardson, who was a last-minute addition to the ODI squad following injuries to Sean Abbott (broken finger) and Mitchell Starc (sliced finger), has re-injured the same hamstring he tore before Australia's white-ball series against Pakistan earlier this year.
The 31-year-old will miss up to six weeks following scans on Sunday.
With the all-important Test series kicking off after the ODI series leg, Australian officials are eager to manage the workload of their potential Test bowlers in Cummins, Hazlewood, Boland, and the injured Starc.
Now with Richardson flying home, the intensity of their impact in the ODI series increases.
Speaking on cricket.com.au, Captain Aaron Finch said the current predicament is "testing".
"Getting back to Colombo, the wickets will probably be a little drier and we'll look to play either an extra spinner or potentially an extra allrounder to be able to get through the 50 overs," Finch said.
For the first ODI starting at 7:00pm AEST in Pallekele, the Australians have opted for fast bowler Jhye Richardson over leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson.
Test Captain Pat Cummins is a big in for the Australians, returning to the 50-over format for the first time in 18 months, while David Warner and Steve Smith have both edged out the explosive Ben McDermott and Travis Head. They led the runs chart for Australia and averaged 60+ against Pakistan.
The non-selection of Head is interesting as the left-hander has averaged 65.17 and has hit 1173 runs from his last 20 List A matches, including 110 off 86 balls five days ago for Australia A against Sri Lanka A in Colombo.
Instead, Head will be playing in the unofficial five-day game between Australia A and Sri Lanka A, with teams being announced at the toss and the match commencing at 2:00pm AEST.
Smith has not played an ODI since he won the Allan Border Medal in 2021. With 568 runs at 63 from his last 10 ODIs, the former Test Captain has switched positions in the order with Marnus Labuschagne, named at number three for the first ODI.
Australia has options a plenty to fill the fifth bowler void, with the versatility of Marcus Stoinis' medium-pacers and the off-break and leg-spin of Glenn Maxwell, and Marnus Labuschagne, with Finch believing that the Australians "have got enough cover for that fifth bowler."
Australia's 1st ODI XI
Aaron Finch (c)
Alex Carey (wk)
