Rivalry needs a boost in series-decider
November 5, 2008
Sourav Ganguly will play his last Test at the site of his supposed beginning of end © AFP
Match facts
Nov 6-Nov 10, 2008
Start time 9.30am (0400 GMT)
Big Picture
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy heads for a climax with much more at stake than the bragging rights in cricket's most enthralling current rivalry. The events of the next five days in Nagpur will be watched with keen interest not just in Mumbai and Melbourne but in London and Lahore and across the cricket world. Apart from a flurry of celebrations and farewells, there are two key questions: Do Australia have the mettle to perform under this intense pressure? And will India's new captain, now in a permanent role, apply his usual attacking instincts when a draw will give him the series?
Australia have been restrained so far but now is the time to let loose all inhibitions because there is only one way they can take the trophy back with them. Those who have seen them play catch-up ever since Bangalore feel more than just the trophy may slip out of their hands: their supremacy is clearly on the line.
But the cricket, and the contest, hasn't been of the highest quality and intensity. Only the Bangalore draw has so far lived up to what we have come to expect of India-Australia clashes. While Bangalore was tantalising, Mohali was too one-sided, and Delhi was dead once India started dropping catches on the fourth day.
The Kotla pitch didn't help matters, and the pitch at the new stadium in Nagpur is an unknown quantity. That shifts the focus to India's approach going into the final match with a one-match lead. On the last two occasions they led 1-0, they looked to defend the lead, and not double it. At The Oval in 2007, not only did India not enforce the follow-on but also took their time in setting a target. In Bangalore, against Pakistan in 2007-08, the declaration came too late on a crumbling final-day pitch.
India have enough distractions they need to stay clear of: this is Sourav Ganguly's last Test, VVS Laxman's 100th, and Gautam Gambhir, the leading run-scorer in the series, has been ruled out for the match. It's not even been three days since India's most successful bowler, and the first-choice captain for the series, Anil Kumble, retired. As a result, Mahendra Singh Dhoni will perhaps for the first time attend the team meeting as Test captain. On the last two occasions he captained - winning both times - he came to know of Kumble's absence only on the morning of the match. It will be interesting how he changes from being a stop-gap captain to a full-time one.
Australia, too, enter new territory as they go into the last match knowing the best possible result will amount only to a drawn series. Since the 1999 series, when they drew against West Indies by winning the last Test in Antigua, this is only their second such experience. In the 2005 Ashes, England held on to a tense draw, and their 2-1 lead, at The Oval.
This is also a series during which Australia are coming face to face with the limitations that the retirements last year left them with. Apart from Mohali, their batsmen have stood up well enough to make sure they don't lose despite a blunt-looking bowling attack. Especially heartening will be Matthew Hayden's return to form during the Delhi Test. Three out of their top five have managed a century each, and Shane Watson has been handy at No.6. But if Australia are to draw this series on a pitch that will most likely be to India's liking, their bowlers will have to turn up, individually and collectively as a unit. Twenty wickets will not be easy for this attack, and therein lies Australia's test of character. The winds of change are very much in swing, and this Australian team wouldn't want to be blown away.
Click here to watch live
Live match
