Phil Hughes will play in his first ODI for Australia against Sri Lanka on Friday, but he will be one of the senior figures in the team's line-up.

The left-handed batsmen could be one of four ODI debutants with Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja and Ben Cutting also in line to make their limited-overs debuts at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

With the soon to be retired Mike Hussey not selected, captain Michael Clarke, David Warner and Matthew Wade rested and James Pattinson and Shane Watson out injured, Australia will be short on experience for the series.

However, Hughes may not have a lot of ODI caps behind his name, but he has been part of the Australia Test set-up for quite a few years now.

"I'm not sure about a veteran," he said with a laugh. "I suppose I've been in and out of the set-up for a number of years now and it's good to have that experience but it's not that much experience.

"It comes down to selection. Mike Hussey - we know what a great player he has been for Australia for a long period of time now, it's great that we got that win in Sydney for him and that series win for him as well.

"He's been outstanding and he really deserved to go out in that way. The decision is totally out of my hands and they (selectors) just think it's the right thing going forward."

Australia's selectors have opted for an inexperienced squad with the 2015 World Cup in mind and Hughes is confident the guys who have been picked are ready for the step up.

"It's opportunity for guys coming in now, there are a few new faces around the squad," Hughes said.

"And for those guys that I suppose are rested for the first couple of games, they play that much cricket, they'll come back fresher and fitter.

"There is inexperience there but it's a good thing if you look at someone like Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja, they've played very well for their states this season so I suppose the experience is there for state cricket but not for international cricket."