With India already retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after two commanding test wins in Nagpur and Delhi over Australia, Indian Skipper Rohit Sharma is already looking past the third test which starts today in Indore.
The fourth and final test in Ahmedabad which begins next Thursday March 9, a green pitch is more likely to be curated after the ICC gave the Nagpur and Delhi pitches an "average rating" according to The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. Both tests finished inside three days.
Needing only one more win to secure a spot in the World Test Championship to be held at The Oval in June, Sharma says having a green wicket for the Ahmedabad test will be good practice leading in.
"There is definitely a possibility of that."
"That thought process is definitely there. If we do what we do here and we get the result we want, we might kick off doing something different in Ahmedabad."
Sharma's comments came as a surprise to stand-in Skipper Steve Smith who is adamant on not letting India further dictate terms.
"That's the first time I've heard of it," Smith said.
"I guess we'll wait and see. Hopefully we don't let them get the job done here. We'll see what happens from there after this Test."
To guarantee its spot in the WTC final, Australia needs to avoid a sweep in the remaining two tests or Sri Lanka upsetting New Zealand 2-0 in the upcoming test series.
Already in the driver's seat, Sharma who is the leading test series run-scorer says there will be no complacency from India who have won an astounding 38 of 40 test matches at home since February 2013.
"Yes these are our home conditions, but these are challenging conditions that we are playing in."
"It is not easy for batsmen to keep scoring consistently. We were put under pressure in the last Test and we can expect the same here."
