It was at this venue -- the Ferozeshah Kotla -- that current Test captain Anil Kumble captured 10 wickets in an innings. He has 48 wickets from five Tests here, and Indians have an impeccable record at this ground, yet to taste defeat.

An assortment of myriad characters, sublime performers and controversial moments have gone to make an India-Pakistan series a bone-crunching thriller which people from both sides of the border have yearned for.
Then, there was the unfamiliarity factor, which provided an aura before it faded away with contests becoming an annual feature.

The usual air of animosity, glares and verbal duels have been replaced by the theme of friendship and warm hugs. The on-going tour is a classic example as there have been hardly any ripples -- barring the Gautam Gambhir-Shahid Afridi episode -- so far.

Both teams resemble rescue squads, bent upon erasing stigmas of the past. While a needle-free series is good from the organiser and official point of view, it cannot be denied that the present looks a pale shadow of the past.

Oozing class
But even in this somewhat dreary atmosphere, India have oozed class during the one-day assignments. It is time for them to extend those qualities to the traditional format of the game. It is a transition easier said than done, but if the hosts' recent exploits are any indication, they are quite capable of that.

The injury-enforced absence of pacemen S Sreesanth and Rudra Pratap Singh means Kumble will have a not-so-easy beginning to his captaincy stint.

With two frontline pace bowlers not taking the field, the bigwigs have drafted in Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma are replacements, but the Maharashtra paceman's selection raises more concerns than any genuine hope.
The pace duo’s absence has suddenly increased the burden on the batsmen, as well as bringing the scales back to equilibrium. That, however, has made the job of the team management easier as Patel is expected to make the eleven for the first Test beginning on Thursday.

Harbhajan Singh will play the support role to Kumble. The sixth batsman’s slot has been a bit contentious ever since Yuvraj Singh has begun to play well in the shorter version of the game.

But the Punjab left-hander to wait a little longer as VVS Laxman has all but sealed his place.

Laxman’s opportunity
The Hyderabadi does not have the best record against Pakistan, and this series offers him a chance to rectify a rare blip in his illustrious career.

Sourav Ganguly too will be under pressure to score, as a failure might bring that undesirable icy touch on his shoulder sooner than later. The selectors cannot keep ignoring the claims of Yuvraj. He has been in blazing form of late, both at the Twenty20 World Cup, and in the one-day series against Australia and Pakistan.

He was the second highest run-getter in the series behind Mohammad Yousuf. This will be a landmark series for Kumble as well as for his counterpart Shoaib Malik. The Indian leg-spinner is a proven match-winner and a respected figure in the dressing room and world cricket.

But this will be new test for his man-management skills and ability to survive the pressures of captaincy. That Kumble will begin a new chapter of his long career at a venue that he always cherished should fire up the unmatched competitor.

Malik, on the other hand, has been appointed captain till December 2008, and he will be keen to reward the selectors’ faith with a good show, as captain and player. After a modest beginning, he has shown signs of getting back into form in the Jaipur one-dayer and that can be ominous from an Indian point of view.
The fate of the teams and their captains has been so delicately interwoven that it should pave the way for a rivetting battle.

Teams (from):
India: Anil Kumble (capt), Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Kaarthick, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Murali Kartik, Ishant Sharma, Yuvraj Singh.

Pakistan: Shoaib Malik (capt), Younis Khan, Abdur Rehman, Faisal Iqbal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Sarfraz Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Kamran Akmal, Mohammad Sami, Salman Butt, Sohail Tanvir, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Yasir Hameed.

Umpires: Simon Taufel (Australia) and Billy Doctrove (West Indies). Third umpire: Suresh Shastri. Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).