Australia will be eyeing a rare series whitewash when they take on India in the fourth Test at Adelaide Oval starting Tuesday.
Since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was inaugurated in 1996, the two nations have waged some epic, tight and often heated duels, with India holding a slender 12-10 win-loss head-to-head record before this series.
The 2011-12 edition has been a completely different story, with Australia ahead 3-0, including successive innings maulings in Sydney and Perth.
Australian has only ever engineered a 4-0 series sweep against India once before - 44 years ago.
Sir Donald Bradman's 1947-48 side won the first-ever series between the two teams 4-0, albeit in a five-Test series, likewise Allan Border's 1991-92 outfit, while Steve Waugh's Australians swept to a 3-0 triumph in 1999-2000.
With the chance to create some history, Australia captain Michael Clarke has rightly declared the final Test is far from dead. The Indians should be approaching the match with a similar mindset.
Despite losing skipper MS Dhoni (suspended), India's out-of-sorts batsmen should relish the batsman-friendly conditions that Adelaide invariably presents.
Australia holds a 5-1 overall lead in Adelaide Tests against India, but the hosts haven't beaten the Indians here since 1999.
The tourists have recorded a win and a draw from the two encounters this century.
Ricky Ponting has played three Adelaide Tests against India and has racked up a first-innings ton each time - including a sublime 242 in a losing cause in 2003 - while Clarke's 118 here four years ago put the Aussies in a strong position.
Of the Indians, Sachin Tendulkar - whose overall record in Adelaide is a mixed bag - stroked a fluent 153 during India's last tour. A repeat effort this week will seem him finally secure his long-awaited 100th international century in what almost certainly will be the 38-year-old's farewell Test Down Under.
The Little Master's effort that day was backed up by a match-saving unbeaten 151 in the second dig from Virender Sehwag, who will toss the coin as India's acting captain on Tuesday.
The last time Sehwag captained his country, he belted a word-record 219 in a limited overs clash against the West Indies at Indore in December. Presently though, he is woefully out of form.
In 2003, Rahul Dravid occupied the Adelaide Oval crease for almost 14 hours for a match-winning double of 233 and 72 not out. His 303-run fifth-wicket stand with VVS Laxman (148) helped India to their first Test win on Australian soil in 23 years.
India's much-vaunted but under-achieving and ageing batting line-up will need to draw on some of those happier past experiences because recent history hasn't been so kind to them.
Of Australia's specialist batsmen, only Shaun Marsh is averaging lower than Tendulkar's team-leading 41.50 in this series.
Additionally, India's best bowler, Zaheer Khan, is averaging 28.58 with the ball, a clip inferior to five Aussie bowlers.
In four stints at the crease, Australia have racked up four individual centuries. In stark contrast, India are yet to register a ton in six completed innings.
India have taken 34 wickets across the three Tests, Australia 60. The sheer numbers are damning for the visitors.
Australia made one change from the third Test triumph at the WACA with finger-spinner Nathan Lyon replacing the unlucky Mitchell Starc.
India have selected Wriddhiman Saha to replace the banned Dhoni as keeper, while medium pacer Vinay Kumar, who was pulverised in Perth, has been dumped. Spin pair R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha have been named in the 12.
Either left-arm orthodox tweaker Ojha or under-performing paceman Ishant Sharma will carry the drinks, depending on whether India opts for dual spinners, which they will decide on the opening morning.
Adelaide is generally considered a win-the-toss, bat-first deck, but of the past nine Tests played here, the team batting first has only won once.
Oval curator Damian Hough has chosen the same 'number four' strip that was used for last summer's Ashes Test in which Australia crashed to an innings defeat to England.
At the time India were ranked No.1 in the world by some margin. How times have changed.
Temperatures in the mid-30s are expected throughout the course of the Test, with dry, sunny conditions.