It is a saving grace that this deadest of dead rubbers is being staged in Kolkata, where passion for sport never runs dry. Audiences of greater than 70,000 are anticipated despite the promise of another mismatch; local media have found ways to sell the Test as an event: will homeboy Sourav Ganguly score a first Test century at the Eden Gardens? Will Sachin Tendulkar do the same? It is proof of West Indies' shameless performance on tour that a battle is no longer being branded a battle. They have played like a team who believe that Test cricket is far too much work.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul apart, there has been no indication of grit; besides two rip-roaring spells by young pacer Jermaine Lawson on day two at Chennai, and to a lesser extent, Wavell Hinds's second-innings cameos in both Tests, they have not provided excitement either. Their decline has been every bit as appalling as perceived: out of their last 27 Tests overseas, they have lost 23, a statistic that smacks not so much of carelessness as colossal indifference.

Admittedly, they have not been helped by the itinerary, which provided their second tour game to be played after the second, rather than the first, Test, at which point the series was already lost. And so Carl Hooper stayed in Mumbai to shoot for commercials, and most of the first XI fluffed around in Pune and swung the odd promotion-deal at local hangouts.

At Kolkata, West Indies will have it even worse: Pedro Collins, the man who dismissed Tendulkar three times in five innings in the Caribbean earlier this year, is likely to sit out with a lower-back strain. That could pave the way back for Cameron Cuffy, who was the most successful bowler in the Pune match. Legspinner Mahendra Nagamootoo could also get a game, in place of offspinner Gareth Breese, or even Collins if the management decide that spin is the way out.

A third possible change could be at No.6 spot, where Ryan Hinds has flopped, but the only viable replacement is Marlon Samuels, who has had just one innings on tour, in which he made just 4.

India are likely to field Ashish Nehra for Zaheer Khan, who has taken time off to tend to a knee niggle. Their other fitness concern was over Ganguly, who injured his back after a collision in the field with Anil Kumble at Chennai. But Ganguly has been declared fit and will look forward to not only that first century at Eden Gardens, but equaling Mohammad Azharuddin as the most winning Indian captain of all time, with 14 Test victories.

For the third successive time in the series, the Test will be played on a virgin pitch. For the third successive time it is likely to play slower and lower than the one it replaced because pitches, the experts say, take about ten months to settle down and reveal their true character.

The last Test played here was one of the greatest of all time. VVS Laxman's 281, Harbhajan Singh's hat-trick, Steve Waugh's decision to enforce the follow-on, these are already part of legend. No such epic looms this time. A mere contest would be appreciated.

Probable teams
India 1 Sanjay Bangar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8Harbhajan Singh, 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Javagal Srinath, 11 Ashish Nehra.

West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Carl Hooper (capt), 6 Marlon Samuels, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Mahendra Nagamootoo, 9 Mervyn Dillon, 10 Cameron Cuffy, 11 Jermaine Lawson.

Rahul Bhattacharya is assistant editor of Wisden.com in India.

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