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Game 4: India versus Australia,
October 28, 1998

India: M Azharuddin, A Jadeja, SR Tendulkar, SC Ganguly, RR Singh, NR Mongia, A Kumble, SB Joshi, BKV Prasad, AB Agarkar, J Srinath, R Dravid, VVS Laxman, N Chopra.

Australia: Steve Waugh, Mark Waugh, Michael Bevan, Damien Fleming, Adam Gilchrist, Brendon Julian, Michael Kasprowicz, Darren Lehmann, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Gavin Robertson, Andrew Symonds, Brad Young.

Remember Sharjah? You do? Good -- now wipe it out of memory, because this game is not likely to be a repeat.

Australia is at full strength -- and I am not forgetting the absence of Shane Warne, who against the Indians (or in fact against any of the three sub-continental sides) is not as much of a trump card as he would be against the other sides.

Further, the conditions favour them. The Aussies field out of their skin always, they back up their bowlers superbly while the bowlers, in turn, have honed the knack of bowling to their field to pretty much a fine art. With the bat, the likes of Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and Damien Fleming can be flamboyant, but it is Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and Michael Bevan I would pick to really make the difference here. Simply because those three are the brilliant ones when it comes to accumulating runs through singles, spiced with the occasional big hit.

For India, the biggest problem is that the surface is not exactly suited to flamboyant strokeplay. Problems there, straightaway, for Azharuddin, Jadeja and Robin Singh, all three of whom will have to concentrate on their other strength, which is tip and run. At the top, too, there could be a problem -- in recent outings, the Aussies appeared to have figured out how to keep Ganguly quiet, which precludes the normal free-flowing start.

Bowlingwise, India is most likely to go in with Srinath, Prasad and Agarkar, with Kumble as the spinner.

The really good option, though, would be to take Sunil Joshi in the starting lineup -- he is dangerous at the best of times, and could be doubly slow if Australia have to chase on a slow turner.

To play Joshi, though, they will need to drop Prasad -- not as much of a problem as it seems, since Robin and Saurav can provide the slow medium support.

India's biggest problem here is going to be the old one, theme of many an Azharuddin lament: "We bowled too short and didn't field well". The tendency to pitch short -- especially on the part of Agarkar -- can be talked out of his mindset. But fielding is going to be the differential between the two sides -- and India's slowness in this department is compounded by a field setting that has the players positioned on the edge of the circle rather than inside it -- which makes the difference between giving the single and preventing it.

Another huge if is the toss -- Azharuddin has, of late, seemingly developed this irresistible compulsion to chase. Assuming he wins the toss yet again (I wonder what the world record in this aspect is, anyway?), if the Indian skipper inserts the opposition, an Australian win is pretty much inevitable. And if Australia wins the toss? You can take odds that Steve Waugh will bat first -- meaning that India, in the chase, is even more hampered thanks to the slower wicket, and its chronic inability to take fast singles.

There is only the one wild card, and its name is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. He alone in this lineup has the extra something to surmount the conditions, to single-handedly buck the odds. Like Aravinda, Tendulkar loves the big occasion. And of late, he seems to have reserved his awesome best for the Aussies.

To play in Sharjah mode is not, however, going to be easy on this surface -- Dhaka calls for the patient, as opposed to the destructive, side of Tendulkar's batting makeup.

On balance? The Aussies to win. Unless Tendulkar produces an immortal innings -- his 19th ODI century and a big one at that.

• Game 1: New Zealand versus Zimbabwe, October 24, 1998
• Game 2: England versus South Africa, October 25, 1998
• Game 3: Sri Lanka versus winner of New Zealand versus Zimbabwe , October 26, 1998
• Game 5: Pakistan versus West Indies, October 29, 1998
• Knock, knock, who's out?