Yet another heist?

Two years, eight months, and two days have passed since that moment, one destined to have a special place in the cricket histories of both India and Australia. On March 15, 2001, Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tendulkar completed the most improbable comeback in Test history, riding the crest of a wave created by VVS Laxman's imperious 281, and Rahul Dravid's flint-hard 180. Tomorrow, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden will revisit the scene of cricket's biggest heist, hoping to leave the Eden Gardens with those Ides of March just a distant, aberrant memory.

Logic will tell you that Australia are the favourites, but there's something about Kolkata and a 100,000-strong crowd that is the exemplar of sporting fanaticism that can intimidate even the most confident side. India started the TVS Cup well enough, beating Australia with a measure of comfort in Gwalior, but subsequent drubbings at Mumbai and Bangalore means that they go into a home final occupying the underdog's kennel.

It shouldn't bother them. The Titan Cup in 1996 had followed a similar script with South Africa utterly dominant in the group stages, only for India - Australia were the odd men out - to romp home in the final. With the toss and the varied conditions under lights making one-day cricket such a lottery, only a fool would stake his gold on the basis of previous form, given that the best team doesn't always prevail as in Test cricket.

India will be in a much better frame of mind after that 145-run thumping of New Zealand. Tendulkar orchestrated matters, and the other batsmen played along sweetly to ensure that there would be no danger of the hosts missing their party. A similar effort will be needed against an Australian bowling attack that has made considerable strides in three weeks, with Nathan Bracken and Brad Williams to the fore.

They will most likely make the one change, bringing in Harbhajan Singh for Murali Kartik, sure to be disheartened after narrowly missing out on the tour to Australia. On the pitch where he earned the Turbanator nickname, Harbhajan would do well to prove that his bowling is a work in progress, rather than an abandoned project as has appeared the case in recent months.

There is another opportunity for Ajit Agarkar to add substance to his new-ball ambitions, while Zaheer Khan must perform to salvage an iota of comfort from an otherwise dreadful home season. Rest assured, Gilchrist and Hayden will be locking their sights the moment he walks to his bowling mark.

Ponting's big-hitting century at Bangalore ironed out the last crease in Australia's own batting, though Hayden has still to bat like the colossus we know he can be. The bowlers they have faced so far haven't been accurate, or good enough, to exploit their tentativeness against high-quality spin. Medium-pace is rare steak and a few kegs of beer for those boys, so unless Harbhajan and Kumble step up in a big way, it could be yet another trophy in the cabinet for an Australian team that seems to win games as easily as Mike Tyson won bouts way back in his heyday. Perhaps it's time for India to do a James "Buster" Douglas ...

Probable teams
India 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 4 VVS Laxman, 5 Rahul Dravid (wk), 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 Mohammad Kaif, 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Harbhajan Singh, 11 Zaheer Khan.

Australia 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Michael Bevan, 7 Michael Clarke, 8 Ian Harvey, 9 Andrew Bichel, 10 Brad Williams, 11 Nathan Bracken.