Bhubaneswar: Will the Windies wind up a win at the Barabati to level up the one-day series or the Men in Blues maintain their Vizag's winning tempo to clinch the series?
Since India has won the toss today, and has elected to bowl first, the team seems following the beaten track of 2011, when India batting second trumped Windies, despite the top-order collapse.
But Team India need to keep on its nerves. Statistics of the decider games show, India had lost to Australia in the last decider earlier this year.
But the gentlemen's game is not a game of statistics, as weather plays a key clincher or spoiler here.
However, famous American writer Rex Stout once said "There are two kinds of statistics - the kind you look up and the kind you make up." Following the dictum in true spirits, tosses up many an aggregate hints of history in waiting at Barabati today.
The biggest revealing history in waiting at Barabati is India's '(Ro)yal Hitman', Rohit Sharma, needs only 119 runs to become the world's third fastest batsman to score 9000 runs. This is Rohit's 221st match.
The task is seemingly not a herculean task for the 'Maha cyclone', when in last game, he breezed a stroke full 159 runs. Skipper Kohli leads the slice of this cricketing history by accomplishing the feat in just 202 matches. De-Villers had earlier achieved the feat in his 214th match. Batting maestro Sachin scored 9000 runs in his 236th match.
The day has a great expectation from the Hitman, as Rohit needs just two boundaries to get past the record of the Matara hurricane, S Jayasuriya's 2,387 as an opener in year 1997. 'Maha Cyclone' Rohit has this year so far picked up 2,379 runs.
And if one look up at the statistics to foretell the statistics waiting to click, Rohit seems clear favourite. In the last India-Windies face-off in 2011, it's classy 72 from Rohit's willow that propelled the Men in Blues to trump Windies by one wicket.
The run machine from Mumbai walked to the crease at fourth down, when India's top order (Sehwag, Gambir and Kohli) had witnessed a total collapse. Rohit and Raina had won the game for India then.
Though Rohit didn't play the last one-day international held at Barabati in 2017, where Yuvraj and Mahi hit tons, respectively, to win the game for India, statistics shows Rohit has a good nick at Barabati. In the last T-20 played against S Africa, which India lost, Rohit scored a quick 22 and was run out. it's this very match that had unravelled the ugly face of Odisha crowds, which was a bitter history now.
Another slice of history, the Barabati looking at is Captain Virat Kohli, who needs 56 runs to pip batting giant J kallis to rank as 7th highest run getter in world. Kohli has scored 11,524 runs till date vis-a-vis Kallis' 11,579. And the big question is, will Virat end his dry run and break the Barabati jinx today?
As far as the ultimate game winner at the Barabati, statistics tells India hasn't lost a single one-day game since the year 2007, when one match (India-Australia) had been abandoned due to rain and wet outfield in 2013.
Barabati had a hoary cricket history. The stadium witnessed one on January 7, 1987, when Haryana Hurricane and India's first great All-rounder Kapil Dev became the youngest (he was 28 then) in the world to scalp 300 wickets. Lankan fast bowler Rumesh Ratnayake was his record victim. Also, Barabati has the privilege to host the 3rd one-day international in the country in 1982.