Down 1-2 in the series, India desperately seek the presence of its key players, more so Tendulkar, to quell the charge of a resurgent Pakistan. But a terrible goof-up has made it a no-go situation.

Now, Ajay Jadeja, the only one to be flown out of India last night, will boost the ranks, in the absence of injured Jatin Paranjpe in the middle order.

It is, however, unlikely that Jadeja would open the innings with Saurav Ganguly as Navjot Sidhu is earmarked for that position.

With Jyoti Yadav and Sairaj Bahutule standing little chance of selection and Jatin Paranjpe's left ankle badly twisted, the rest of the players choose themselves.

One worry for India is the lack of economy on the part its seambowlers Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar and Venkatesh Prasad, the last mentioned omitted for the Zimbabwe tour. On the credit side, they have been getting runs though.

Indeed, India's Toronto hero Ganguly has been the most impressive bowler in this tournament.

Despite the Board's vow to get the team fit and sharp in view of next year's World Cup, India's running between the wickets has been appalling.

The good work done by foreign coach Bob Simpson does not quite show in the calls made by the Indian batsmen in which Sidhu, Ganguly and Mongia look particularly suspect.

Pakistan has begun to look good and the tactical inputs of Javed Miandad are beginning to pay dividends. Aamir Sohail was quick to acknowledge that at the end of the third match on Wednesday when he said: ``Miandad is Miandad. He has been a great help with his planning in these victories.''

Pakistan might be toying with the idea of giving Mushtaq Ahmed a game tomorrow since the game would be played on the first match wicket which was abit slow and had inconsistent bounce and pace. Still, it is an outside chance since the team is functioning smoothly and Salim Malik has been particularly useful as a slow, restrictive bowler.

Teams (likely): India Mohammed Azharuddin (capt), Navjot Sidhu, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Ajay Jadeja, Nayan Mongia, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Ajit Agarkar, Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Sunil Joshi.

Pakistan: Aamir Sohail (capt), Shahid Afridi, Saeed Anwar, Inzamamul Haq, Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmed, Moin Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Aaquib Javed, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mohammed Zahid.

Umpires: Steve Dunne (New Zealand) and Ian Robinson (Zimbabwe).

Match referee: Peter Burge.

Hours of play (IST): 7 pm-10.30 pm; 11.15 pm-2.45 am.