Preview: India vs Australia, Mohali Test

And if still anyone felt it would not be riveting enough, Sachin Tendulkar will feature in the sideshow on the sidelines as he tries to knock off those 15 runs to topple Brian Lara from the top of the highest run accumulator8217;s chart in the longer version of the game.

The jury is still out on which side gained most from the drawn tie in Bangalore after both returned with honours more or less even.

Apparently, Australia did have the hosts on the mat for a while but in the end, it was Kumble8217;s men who claimed a moral victory by forcing a draw.

For India, lot of positives came out of the Bangalore match where the pacers rocked, one half of the spin attack stung, tail wagged and the senior players dug deep into their vast reserve of experience and batted out the tricky fifth day to save the match.

The lone blot was Kumble going wicket-less, a rarity at home, and then compounding his crisis by injuring his shoulder.

Drizzles over the last few days have left much moisture in the track and though there is a temptation of fielding Munaf Patel as the third seamer, India is unlikely to fiddle with the bowling unit equilibrium.

In contrast, Australia, rather reluctantly, might have to hand over a Test cap to either Peter Siddle or Doug Bollinger as Stuart Clark8217;s elbow injury has created a cloud of doubt over his availability for the match.

Clark8217;s possible absence would come as music to the ears of the Indian batsmen, who often reeled under the claustrophobic accuracy of the Australian metronome.

In Clark8217;s possible absence, the workload would only increase for spearhead Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson. Lee looked threatening in Bangalore but one wicket in each innings meant the hosts did a decent job of seeing him through.

In contrast, Johnson8217;s ability to reverse swing the ball has caused some consternation in the Indian batting order and the left-arm pacer would surely relish the tormentor8217;s role here again.

Injury to others and providence cleared the decks for Cameron White8217;s Bangalore debut but the leg-spinning all-rounder, whose scalped Tendulkar for his first Test victim, may have his real test here at Mohali.

Fortunately, Ponting has no major worries with the batting order. Matthew Hayden looks rusty after the injury lay-off while Michael Clarke is yet to bloom but the captain himself has shrugged a huge monkey off his back and Michael Hussey is rock solid in the middle.

Ponting is here on a redemption mission and the century in Bangalore was a statement of intent that he was here to rewrite his otherwise dismal record in India.

Hussey on the other hand has the perfect temperament to hang in and has apparently mastered the rather unglamorous craft of grafting.

The series has already seen the sparks flying in Bangalore though none overstepped the line and Brett Lee hinted the intensity level is unlikely to drop over the next five days.

Having sparred, scratched and sized up each other in Bangalore, both parties now have a better idea about each other8217;s vulnerability and whoever plans and executes better would go into the third Test with a 1-0 lead.

Teams from:

India: Anil Kumble c, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir Sourav Ganguly, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, VVS Laxman, Amit Mishra, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma and RP Singh.

Australia: Ricky Ponting c, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey Phil Jaques, Mitchell Johnson Simon Katich, Doug Bollinger, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin wk, Jason Krejza, Brett Lee, Peter Siddle, Shane Watson and Cameron White.