Mumbai: An emasculated England, with just seven survivors now from its Ashes triumph last year, has before it one last chance for redemption. India, unassailable at one to zit, will need to guard against the mortifying possibility of the series being levelled by a sneak attack.

The third and final Test starting on Saturday at the Wankhede here has already made the well-weathered sheaves of the archives under `Most Delightful Coincidences'. A bit of an anachronism that, but rarely does a great play his 100th the same day another — the icon timeless — becomes his country's most-capped.

"It's special in the sense I will be joining legendary cricketers, and it's been nice for the last couple of days to have reflected a bit," said Indian captain Rahul Dravid. "But it's another Test and it's a time to focus on playing good cricket and winning the series."

Impressive

Indeed, among the many impressive things the Chappell-Dravid regime has accomplished, few have raised the eyebrow of approval quite like their ability to keep one eye on the `here and now' while training another at the mists of future.

The theory of five bowlers now presents the curious case of the eyes getting crossed. A tactic in Mohali, and definitely part of strategy to win Tests abroad, will it be reprised on Saturday? "I'm obviously not going to announce my squad now," said Dravid, the oblique oracle. "We do have the option of playing five bowlers, when you do that some high quality batsmen in our squad lose out.

"It's tempting to give them a go. But if we do play four bowlers the philosophy is still the same — you need to get 20 wickets. Playing four bowlers is not defensive, not a backward step just as playing five is not being over aggressive."

Laxman will most likely come in for Piyush Chawla; if five do play the composition of the quintet could change with Sreesanth replacing the rookie leg-spinner. Either way, the relegation of the Hyderabadi on the batting totem pole even as Yuvraj got his face carved higher up is more an indication of the strides the left-hander from Punjab has made than the yards Laxman has lost.

Good wicket

The conditions served up here hold as much interest as the mathematics of team combination. "It looks a good wicket," said Dravid, who played on an under-prepared track the last time around. "It's firm and should have bounce and carry. But as the sun beats down on it, and we know this red soil, it should begin to spin by the end of the first day."

Then, there is the small matter of swing, both conventional and reverse. The outfield here bears little resemblance to the billiards tabletop at Mohali and is punctuated by practice pitches. Munaf Patel swung it `Irish' in the second Test where reverse was a consequence of an abrasive wicket; there is little doubt swing towards the shine will show itself here.

There is also swing brought forth by the breeze locals allude to — breeze that sets in during the second half of the day because of the Arabian Sea's proximity. The shorter straight boundaries will necessitate a reworking of the angles of third-man and fine-leg, areas of haemorrhage India's wristy batsmen can exploit.

England's problems

England's problems at Mohali were twofold: the bowlers erred in not throwing in yorkers at India's tail; and the batsmen showed little of the patience and skill needed to build match winning partnerships in the sub-continent. "It (batting) is an area of concern," admitted English coach Duncan Fletcher. "It's crucial some of our experienced players go out and develop partnerships."

Steve Harmsion's injury will hit the visitors hard — in the context of Sehwag's return to form, the Durham speedster's shins couldn't have picked a worse time to give in. James Anderson, who last played a Test in January last year, should edge in.

Harmison's fitness will be assessed after the Test here to decide if he will be part of the seven-match ODI series that will follow, said Fletcher. "Harmison's position is he won't be playing the Test match, that's the only thing I can let you know," Fletcher told newsmen. "From our point of view, we are looking at him for a week, we are going to review him after the Test and see if he can be available for the first two one-dayers and then assess it."

England has indicated that it might look at two spinners within the ambit of five bowlers. Monty Panesar's low left-arm-slung side-spin (remember Michael Clarke and Murali Kartik on an admittedly different diabolical track last time?) could come in handy.

The teams (from): India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Wasim Jaffer, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, V.V.S. Laxman, Mohammad Kaif, M.S. Dhoni (wk), Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Munaf Patel, S. Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, R.P. Singh.

England: Andrew Flintoff (captain), Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Geraint Jones (wk), Matthew Hoggard, Mudhsuden Panesar, Liam Plunkett, James Anderson, Shaun Udal, Ian Blackwell, Matthew Prior, Owais Shah.

Umpires: Simon Taufel (Australia) and Darrell Hair (Australia); Third umpire: K. Hariharan (India); Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle.

Hours of play: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., 12.40 p.m. to 2.40 p.m., and 3 p.m. till close.

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