History beckons Team India

LONDON, Aug 8: The Indian team is just one momentous step away from history: the only question is if it will put the right foot forward and win its first series here in England since 1986; or will it put the wrong one (left?) and be condemned for ever as the real choker in the pack? Indeed, the third and final Test, starting here at the Oval on Thursday, is its much-awaited tryst with destiny.Can Rahul Dravid and his Ageing Men in Blue hoodwink ‘the curse' and redeem their reputations? Or will they kneel under the 1-0 pressure again and get crushed by another golden opportunity?
The signs are clearly ominous: after the victory at Trent Bridge, the intensity-level has visibly dipped; it's almost like the pressure on some of the players has suddenly disappeared. Are they already looking happy? Satisfied? Have they done everything possible to prevent this moment too from rumbling by?
The next five days, probably less, will decide the place of this path-breaking but under-achieving squad in the annals of the game. Like always, though, their fate is in their own hands: Zaheer Khan and RP Singh will have to show the same pace and fire; Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly the same grit and resolve; and the team, as a whole, the same cat-fight spirit.
Anything less will mean another trip down despondency lane, chased all the way by poisoned fingers and angry darts.
India's biggest challenge will, obviously, come from the other side. England already have jellybeans on their faces and are livid; to boot, they haven't lost a series at home since 2001. Their record, if not pride —which was slightly dented by their last victory here, over Pakistan in dubious circumstances — is at stake.
They have, on the other hand, looked mean and hungry over the last few days; some of them, in fact, raise images of injured lions which have also been cornered. They will surely fight back, hard and ferociously, with the last blood in their paws. Victory will be sweet; revenge sweeter.
India's bigger concern will come from underneath though: the pitch. The Oval track is traditionally warm for batsmen; but it also has some bite lurking below too. And as we all know, even half a centimetre of extra bounce is like a death-trap for our batsmen. They will surely walk in with doubts in their minds.
The bowlers might do the job again; but the batsmen might slowly feel the gnawing ache in their backs rising all the way up. They will need to counter that before thinking of Chris Tremlett's extra pace and spring, Ryan Sidebottom's killing line and length and James Anderson's craftiness and determination. If they manage to come out of these dangers, they will face another threat: a subtler but equally deadly one in the form of Monty Panesar. The excitable left-arm spinner has shown the courage and guile to snare even the grandest masters of turn and tweak. With the conditions expected to roll in his favour by the fourth day, India will be walking a tightrope.
Ironically, India are deriving their strength from the record book itself: they haven't lost a Test match here since 1959; they have also been the last among the two to win here (during the historic 1971 tour) and have also drawn the last four Tests at the Oval.
Pretty impressive. But then, England haven't lost here since 2002 either. They have also been bolstered by the amazing recovery of Kevin Pietersen; it means they won't need to worry that much more about their brittle batting order. India, despite their own fears over Sree Santh's erratic spells and his current mental state (after being dropped from the One-day side), will be hoping that the chinks even out. In the end, everything will again depend on the Big Guns. Are they still hungry? Or are they satisfied?
INDIA (from): Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Kaarthick, Rahul Dravid (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, S Sreesanth, Yuvraj Singh.
ENGLAND (from): Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan (captain), Kevin Pietersen, P Collingwood, Ian Bell, Matt Prior (wk), Chris Tremlett, R Sidebottom, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Stuart Broad.