India coach Gary Kirsten relishes the prospect of watching these great duels from the dressing room and stresses the importance of the series. “It doesn’t matter if they have faced each other several times, since these guys might be facing each other for perhaps the last time in a Test series. And it is important for these greats to score over each other in their last outing,” he says.

Fitting absence?

Call it great timing or twist of fate, Tendulkar wouldn’t have found a better series to overtake Brian Lara and be the highest run-getter in the history of Test cricket. Just 171 runs away, Tendulkar is expected to bring Test cricket back in the news by reaching the milestone in this series.

With his old mates around on a serene Island, and with the first and third Tests being played at the SSC — a venue that’s is about 150 years old — Tendulkar will have a fitting audience and a conducive environment for the big high.

Under the circumstances, the absence of the ODI captain and vice-captain from this series suddenly seems apt. Dhoni and Yuvraj, with their unbridled aggression, might just have sullied the serenity of watching these great men in whites clash for one last time.