Australia heads into the fourth and final Test against India in Nagpur in the rather unfamiliar position of having to win the final game just to force a drawn series and therefore retain the trophy on offer.
Not since Ricky Ponting's men were beaten 2-1 in the last Ashes series on English soil in 2005 has an Australian team faced such a scenario, and you'd have to go back to the tour of India in 2001 for the time before that when Australia was beaten, again 2-1.
The tourists' cause won't be helped either by reports that the deck at the new Vidarbha CA Ground will be a batting paradise, with the Indians likely to try and bat for as long as possible to force a draw, much as was the case in Delhi.
The Australian bowlers have been unable to capture 20 wickets in any of the three Tests so far, coming closest to a win in the opening game, and on what's tipped to be an unresponsive pitch they'll have to work even harder to bowl India out twice.
But with the hosts expected to again adopt a somewhat negative mindset by playing for a draw from the outset, such a ploy could yet play into Australia's hands, although the permanent change in leadership with MS Dhoni taking over things could be different.
Ponting's men will have been encouraged by their fightback in the third Test after they had conceded an imposing 7-613 to India, eventually bowled out for 577 and then causing the Indians some nervous moments in the second innings.
India will have to make at least two changes, with Harbhajan Singh recovered from his toe injury and likely to replace the now retired Anil Kumble and bowl in tandem with fellow spinner Amit Mishra, while a replacement is also needed for Gautam Gambhir.
The opener and leading run-scorer in the series has been suspended following a third Test incident involving Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, with the ICC dismissing Gambhir's appeal against his punishment a couple of days before the game.
Murali Vijay, a 24-year-old right-hander from Tamil Nadu, has been called up for his international debut after scoring 200 runs in four innings for India A in a recent two-match tour against New Zealand A and this week 243 in a Ranji Trophy game.
Australia may also make at least one change, with Tasmanian off-spinner Jason Krejza, who hasn't played since the opening match of the tour, named by Ponting as a possible inclusion.
The match will also decide the leading batsman and bowler honours, with Gambhir still well-placed to take the batting aggregate thanks to his twin centuries - including a double hundred last start - and 463 runs so far.
Team-mate VVS Laxman's superb unbeaten double ton and unbeaten half-century in the second innings leave him with the average of 156.50 and 313 runs overall, while Mike Hussey (285), Sachin Tendulkar (275) and Sourav Ganguly (239) round out the top five.
Things are much tighter in the bowling category, with Mitchell Johnson's dozen scalps leaving him on top from fellow quicks Ishant Sharma (11) and Zaheer Khan (10), while Mishra (9) and Harbhajan (8) are also within striking distance.
With most of Australia's top order finding form in Delhi and Nagpur likely to be favourable to the batsmen, the tourists' destiny in this series rests squarely on the shoulders of Brett Lee and co. if they are to rescue the Border Gavaskar Trophy.