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Mumbai: The series may be in their grasp, but India are unlikely to take their feet off the pedal when they take on a hapless England in the fourth ODI to push for a whitewash in the five-match ODI series on Sunday.
Having outplayed England in the first three encounters, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men have returned to the scene of India's greatest triumph just over six months after sending the billon-strong nation to delirium by clinching cricket's biggest prize - the World Cup - under lights at this revamped arena.
Memories of that glorious April 2 night and the wild celebrations that followed might be distant for Dhoni especially after his squad was swamped by England at home in all three formats soon after that historic triumph.
The 3-0 unassailable lead going into the penultimate clash on a wicket that is expected to be a slow turner may not be redemption, but it must have assuaged some bad feelings the Indian captain might have carried since his return home from the disastrous tour of England.
Team India has done everything right thus far and taken the insurmountable lead with the same eleven players turning out in the first three matches and the batting order too remaining constant.
The home team has batted well, both while chasing the target or setting one, with skipper Dhoni himself taking up the challenge when the innings had gone into a slight wobble on occasions.
Among the most pleasing aspects of the five-wicket victory in Mohali was the form shown by young opener Ajinkya Rahane - the lone Mumbai representative in the squad in this series, who would be playing his first international encounter in front of his home supporters,
England bowlers have been largely clueless on how to tame the Indian batting line up on shirt-front wickets, unlike in the recent series back home when the shoe was on the other foot. They need to come out with something different if they have to make a match of it here.
To add to their woes, pacer Chris Woakes has picked up an injury without playing a match in the series and has been replaced by Graham Onions in the squad.
India too have lost young Vidarbha pacer Umesh Yadav, who has had a mixed series, following an injury in the previous game at Mohali on October 20.
His replacement, Bangalore-based Abhimanyu Mithun, has played four Tests and a couple of ODIs in his short international career while his rival for the spot vacated by Yadav, has none. It's a toss-up between him and greenhorn Varun Aaron for the third seamer's spot.
Dhoni had also hinted that with the series already in pocket, India might test its bench strength in the next two matches.
England batsmen have gradually improved during the series after a poor show in the first ODI at Hyderabad where they were bundled out for a meagre 1734 in 36.1 overs.
They almost touched the 300-run mark after batting for 50 overs at Mohali which must have given them confidence in playing the Indian bowling attack on the slow wickets of low bounce.
But England have to pull up their socks in fielding, a fact conceded by their captain Alastair Cook after a shoddy show in the previous game.
After scoring 298 for four, England failed to defend the score with India romping home with four balls to spare.
The wicket prepared has been described as a slow turner, even slower than what he had prepared for the World Cup final, by curator and former India opener Sudhir Naik. The dew factor may not be as significant as in the northern part at this time of the year.
Ticket sales for the match have not been greatly encouraging though Mumbai Cricket Association officials said they would pick up on Saturday and expect a full house on Sunday ahead of the Diwali celebrations next week.
Teams from
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain & wicketkeeper), Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel (wicketkeeper), Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Varun Aaron, Abhimanyu Mithun, Vinay Kumar, S Aravind, Rahul Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Praveen Kumar.
England: Alastair Cook (captain), Craig Kieswetter (wicketkeeper), Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Ravi Bopara, Jonathan Bairstow, Graeme Swann, Samit Patel, Tim Bresnan, Steven Finn, Stuart Meaker, Graham Onions, Scott Borthwick, Jose Buttler, Alex Hales.
Pitch and conditions
Mumbai sees an unusual heat wave arrive every October, and the England players are going to find it extremely uncomfortable. This is not a welcome, sunny, sunbathe in Hyde Park sort of heat. It's muggy, stifling and you are likely to perspire a river by the time you've walked from the team bus to the ground.
Stats and trivia
Match facts
Sunday, October 23, 2011 (day/night)
Start time 1430 (0900 GMT)
