Inconceivable as it might appear, it will be no exaggeration to say that for the first time in a really, really long while, India don’t go into a home Test as overwhelming favourites. A carefully and assiduously constructed run of 18 home series victories came crumbling down in Pune last week following their 113-run loss to New Zealand in the second Test. Sitting on a 2-0 lead, New Zealand are primed to become the first team since Clive Lloyd’s West Indies in 1983 to win three Tests (in a six-match showdown) in a series on Indian soil, an ignominy India will be determined to avoid at the Wankhede Stadium from Friday, when the final Test gets going.

Batting meltdowns