Australia will have to avoid defeat in the third Test in Delhi starting on Wednesday if it is to prevent India from claiming the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
After the first match ended in a draw, India romped to a 320-run victory in the second Test to take the ascendancy in the series.
India suffers a nervous wait heading into the crucial third Test with the news that star spinner Harbhajan Singh is in doubt for the match after suffering a toe injury late in the second Test.
However, captain Anil Kumble will return to the starting XI if he can recover in time from his shoulder injury and if Singh is cleared to play then promising leg-spinner Amit Mishra will be the unlucky player to miss.
"If Kumble is fit, he'll play the next match in place of Mishra," coach Gary Kirsten said. "He is looking good and we are happy with the way things have progressed."
Australian paceman Stuart Clark is a likely starter after he missed the Test in Mohali with an elbow injury. Clark's inclusion will probably come at the expense of Victorian debutant Peter Siddle.
"He's done everything that's been asked and required of him this week so far so I'd imagine that he will pass anymore testing that he has to do today (Tuesday) but I'm pretty confident he'll come back into the side," captain Ricky Ponting said of Clark.
The Delhi pitch is expected to offer spin, meaning the Aussies could make room for off-spinner Jason Krejza to come in for his debut.
"Jason's a good chance, he's bowled really well the last couple of days I think he's impressed a lot since the early practice games that he played and got put to the sword a bit in those games," Ponting said.
"There's a couple of decisions to be made with our starting XI to tell the truth and once I get down to the ground today and have a closer look at the wicket and make a more informed guess of what the wicket's going to do then we'll be able to finalise what our starting XI is."
Australia's biggest problem in the second Test were the starts it made to both innings, which ultimately allowed India to gain control of the match. The Indian top order put on 146 runs with only one wicket down in the first innings and recovered from 4-163 with Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly combining for a 142-run partnership.
With the Aussie bowlers struggling to get wickets it was left to the batters to keep the visitors alive in the Test. Matthew Hayden was dismissed in the opening over of Australia's first dig and when Ponting and Simon Katich were sent back to the pavilion, Australia was firmly on the back foot at 3-62.
The hosts then declared their second innings closed on 314 with just three men dismissed while in reply the Aussies lost their first five wickets for only 58 runs.
Ponting has identified this as the main issue confronting his team and knows that it must be improved if Australia is to have any chance of levelling the series.
"We've got to start both our innings very well, if we happen to bat first we have to make sure we start our batting innings well and we have to bat big in the first innings," he said.
"If we