Both the teams need to win all the three remaining games if they are to stand any chance of qualifying for the last-four stage and the team that ends on the wrong side of the result would be out of contention.

They are on equal points having won five of their 11 matches but the hosts are at the fifth place in the points table, ahead of Kolkata Knight Riders due to their better net run-rate.

The hosts have a psychological edge as they have beaten Knight Riders in the away encounter but that defeat at home would push Kolkata even more for the win.

Both the teams are coming into the clash after defeats in their last encounters and an exasperated Sourav Ganguly even went to the extent of saying that his side played “rubbish” on Saturday against Royal Challengers Bangalore and did not deserve to be in semifinals.

It remains to be seen how Ganguly, who has been a great leader, motivates his player to live up to challenge after publicly critisising the side.

Chennai have a solid team on paper but performed below par. The top order performance would be key to their fate although they have made efforts to add sting to their attack by adding Australian paceman Doug Bollinger.

Matthew Hayden at the top and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the middle-order have not been to their destructive best but Tuesday is the time when they will have to come out of the shell.

Considering the hot weather conditions and slow nature of the pitch at the M A Chidambaram stadium, getting the right combination will also be a challenge and crucial to teams’ strategies.

Even Sachin Tendulkar, a seasoned batsman and a stalwart of the game, struggled to adjust to conditions in Chennai in the last match.

For Chennai, the challenge would be to contain hard-hitting Caribbean batsman Chris Gayle. He batted with great vigour against Bangalore on Saturday and getting him early would only help their cause.

Middle-order is a worry for Kolkata as their lacklustre show let advantage slip out of hands on Saturday.

Manoj Tiwary and Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews have a big responsibility on their shoulders in the middle-order.

In the bowling, apart from Ajantha Mendis and to some extent Ashok Dinda others have not been that impressive and need to pull up their socks in this do-or-die situation.

The 23-year-old Ashwin, who is also a useful batsman lower down the order, was the only new face in the squad which will miss the services of prolific opener Gautam Gambhir because of a groin injury.

Lanky Baroda all-rounder Yusuf Pathan, who hit a double century in West Zone’s record run chase in Duleep Trophy final, and Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar forced their way back into the squad announced by BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a selection committee meeting here.

Seasoned off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has made himself unavailable to attend his sister’s wedding while dashing batsman Yuvraj Singh was also not considered as he has not recovered from a wrist injury.

“Harbhajan Singh has declared himself not available for the first two ODIs due to personal reasons. Gautam Gambhir is not available for the ODI series due to groin injury,” a BCCI release said.

The selection of Ashwin was very much on the cards after Harbhajan had made himself unavailable. The Tamil Nadu spinner has so far captured 103 wickets in 28 first class matches for an average of 29.43.

As a batsman, Ashwin has scored two centuries and six half-centuries in his aggregate of 1085 runs which explains his utility in the shorter format of the game.

Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who featured in India’s current Test squad, was not picked in the squad to be captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Saurashtra all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who has been banned for one year from playing in the Indian Premier League, has been retained in the team along with Uttar Pradesh paceman Sudeep Tyagi.

The tourists, trailing by 347 runs on the first innings, lost three key wickets on the rain-curtailed fourth day to stutter to 115-3 in their second knock by stumps at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Just 34.1 overs were sent down during the day as a wet outfield caused by overnight rain delayed the start by 90 minutes and overcast conditions interrupted play regularly.

In the brief period of action, leg-spinner Amit Mishra sent back skipper Graeme Smith (20) and Jacques Kallis (20), and Harbhajan Singh dismissed Alviro Petersen.

Hashim Amla was unbeaten on 49 and Ashwell Prince had yet to score when the umpires finally called off play for the day.

India, which lost the first Test in Nagpur by an innings and six runs, will hope for a clear day on Thursday as they attempt to draw the series and retain their number one Test ranking.

The second-ranked South Africa will take over from India if the match ends in a draw, giving the Proteas a 1-0 series win.

South Africa still trail by 232 runs with seven wickets in hand.

India declared their first innings on a mammoth 643-6, built on centuries by Virender Sehwag (165), Venkatsai Laxman (143 not out), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (132 not out) and Sachin Tendulkar (106).

Smith and Petersen played with caution after resuming at the overnight total of 6-0, when Mishra was brought into attack in the 13th over.

Mishra struck off his first delivery, trapping Smith in front of the wicket to cap a miserable outing for the South African skipper in the series. Smith scored just 30 runs in three innings.

Off-spinner Harbhajan gave India the breakthrough in the post-lunch session when he got rid of first-innings centurion Petersen (21) in his second over after the break.

The debutant opener was foxed by a delivery that found the inside edge of his bat and popped up to short-leg where Subramaniam Badrinath took a head-high catch on second attempt.

Flintoff, 31, said: “My recovery is still on track. But I must admit that saying I would be fit to play in Bangladesh may have been a touch optimistic on my part.”

England’’s tour of Bangladesh begins on February 28 with three one-day internationals, before a two-Test series starts on March 12.

Flintoff turned down an incremental contract offer from England in order to pursue other short-term opportunities but pledged to remain available for their one-day matches.

If he fails to recover in time for the Bangladesh ODIs, his next target is likely to be the 2010 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, which will run from March 12 to April 25.

His next opportunity to resume his international career would be at the ICC World Twenty20 – which starts almost immediately after the IPL final – before England’’s summer ODIs against Scotland, Australia and Pakistan.

Last year, Flintoff signed a record 1.55 million dollar contract to play for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, although his 2009 stint was cut short by injury.

He had surgery in August after helping England regain the Ashes with victory over Australia and was pleased with the findings of his 12-week check-up by Williams.

“I know I”m not in the clear yet and there is still a lot of hard work to be done, but so far, so good and it is very good news because if he”d said he was disappointed with my progress I”d have been devastated,” said Flintoff.

Umar Akmal was the topscorer with 56 in 49 balls as Pakistan reached 153-5 on a lively pitch.

The Kiwis put up a spirited fight. Stand-in captain Brendon McCullum (47) and Scott Styris (43) threatened to lead New Zealand to victory with a 66-run stand for the fourth wicket. However, the Pakistani bowlers led by paceman Umar Gul (2-29) kept their cool in the final overs.

With the victory, Pakistan matched South Africa’s record string from March to June this year.

“I am very happy for Pakistan that we have achieved this record,” skipper Shahid Afridi said. “But if we keep playing this well, we can set many more records.

“It was a fantastic team performance, which was very important for us considering we lost the ODI series against them a few days back. The fans here and back home were very disappointed and it was important that we lifted their spirits with a good show.”

McCullum wasn’t downbeat.

“I am quite happy with the way we played despite all the injury setbacks,” he said. “To take it so close against the world champions is quite special for us.”

Earlier, James Franklin replaced Aaron Redmond, who strained his groin while bowling in the first match on Thursday. The depleted New Zealand side also requested a couple of United Arab Emirates players be on standby in case of any other injuries on the field.

Meanwhile, regular captain Daniel Vettori, who was ruled out of both matches after being hit on the his helmet during the second one-dayer, was cleared of any serious damage after a precautionary scan. Vettori was scanned after vomiting a couple of times following the injury.

The Indians, seeking to dethrone Australia from the number one spot in world rankings, will be strengthened by the expected rerun of Gautam Gambhir, who had to skip last match due to a neck injury.

Gambhir’s presence in the line-up has become a crucial one as he brings in the virtue of patiently working the ball into the gaps and rotating the strike to the other stroke-makers in the team.

The Delhi left-hander can change gear as per the needs of the situation and has been the calming influence in the top-order while skipper Dhoni has taken over this job in the latter part of the innings.

What the Indians would be hoping for is explosive opener Sehwag’s longer stay at the crease as he has rocketed off with a flurry of boundaries but continues to lose way in the 30s and 40s.

India’s bowling has been a mixed bag with Ishant Sharma, in particular, blowing hot and cold.

The pick has been left-arm paceman Ashish Nehra whose display in the beginning as well as the end of the Australian innings has been outstanding.

The visiting team’s pace attack has lost a bit of bite after losing very impressive Siddle and they would hope Mitchell Johnson, who has been inconsistent, to put up an improved show.

Doug Bollinger has impressed in the absence of his seniors colleagues and off-spinner Nathan Hauritz has also done well though he lacks support in the middle overs.

An enterprising eighth-wicket partnership of 108 from 79 balls from Graeme Swann (62) and Stuart Broad (61) at Headingley delayed the inevitable defeat and helped England avoid some unwanted records.

When Swann came to the crease at 120-7, England was still 42 runs short of its heaviest Test defeat at home to Australia (innings and 180 runs at Trent Bridge in 1989) and 74 runs from its heaviest Test defeat at Headingley (innings and 148 against Australia in 1993).

The victory was England’s first in a Test against Australia at Lord’s in 75 years.

Scorecard

Flintoff, bowling through pain in his right knee that led him to announce that he will retire from Tests after this series, finished with figures of 5-92. He bowled ten consecutive overs from the start of play to earn his third five-wicket haul in Tests on his final appearance in a Test at Lord’s.

Off-spinner Graeme Swann had 4-87 and removed Michael Clarke, who made 136 and was Australia’s main hope in an attempt to reach a record run chase total of 522. Australia, seeking to retain the Ashes, was eventually dismissed for 406 with Mitchell Johnson contributing 63 from 75 balls.

England heads to Edgbaston for the third Test on July 30 intent on keeping its lead in the series.

The hosts were humiliated in the 2006-07 Ashes series, losing by a 5-0 margin. The first Test in Cardiff was drawn after a battling match-saving effort by England.

James Anderson set an early positive tone for England with two lbw appeals in the first four balls of the day, though both were given not out by umpire Billy Doctrove.

Flintoff then claimed the first wicket of the morning before Australia had registered a run. Brad Haddin’s resistance, which spanned 196 minutes, came to an end when he edged to Paul Collingwood at second slip for his overnight score of 80. The score was then 313-6.

Flintoff’s bowling speeds were consistently above 90 mph and, to emphasize his threat, struck established batsman Clarke on the glove with a spiteful bouncer. The next ball swung into Clarke and cut away from the outside edge of his bat.

Johnson experienced similar hardship against Flintoff and was hit on the shoulder when he failed to connect with a hook shot when on 11. Two balls later he connected for one of his nine boundaries.

Johnson edged Stuart Broad towards Flintoff at second slip when on 15 but the ball just failed to carry and the batsman scrambled a single. Later in the same over, Clarke reasserted his authority by cover driving for a well-timed boundary.

Swann produced the key breakthrough by bowling Clarke, who had advanced down the pitch only to see the ball dip under his bat and spin back on to the off stump. Swann’s ecstatic celebration illustrated the team’s relief at removing Clarke.

Australia’s vice-captain batted for 319 minutes, faced 227 deliveries and struck 14 boundaries.

Nathan Hauritz (1) was bowled by Flintoff after offering no stroke and Peter Siddle was also bowled by the Lancashire all-rounder, who celebrated his fifth wicket with his usual modesty, kneeling on the Lord’s turf and acknowledging the applause.

Indian team had got third place in ICC ranking, If India have beaten WestIndies without loss that may rise Indian team to second place but they loss one match in that series.So India Still Remains third place, Australia and south Africa were first and second place in ICC Rankings.