The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai has never been a ground on which the Indian Test team could take anything for granted, unlike certain other of their home venues.
In the 23 Test matches that have been played there, ahead of the forthcoming match against the West Indies, India have won 9, and lost 7, with the other 7 games ending in draws.
In truth, the 45,000 spectators that will pack the stadium on each day of the Test match, for once, won’t be in the slightest bit concerned about the outcome of the match.
They will be there to pay homage to the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, playing his 200th and final ever Test match in his home city.
Sachin has played 18 Test innings at the ground, and accumulated 847 runs, at an average of 47.05, though just one of his record 51 Test match centuries has been made there.
Is it just possible that the fairy tale can come true, and he will reach three figures in his last ever Test?
Well, his last two visits to the stadium, both in the 2013 IPL, produced match winning cameo performances, during a season in which his form was merely average, as if he were a mere mortal with the bat in his hands, against Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Indian spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha, have enjoyed playing there, as 23 wickets in two matches between them will indicate.
Indeed, such is India’s confidence in their spinners to perform on this wicket, that last year they played a solitary specialist seamer, while Ashwin and Ojha opened the attack in both innings.
Unfortunately for the home team, England won the match by 10-wickets early on its fourth day. Spin claimed 28 of the 30 wickets that fell in the match, but big centuries from Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen ensured that England cantered home.