Mumbai: Team India captain Rahul Dravid is expecting maestro Sachin Tendulkar to fire on Monday, which can save India’s face by levelling the series 2-2. “Sachin is batting very well in the nets and he is on course for a big score tomorrow,” Dravid said on the eve of the match.

Lamenting on the 10-wicket loss at the Eden, Dravid admitted that they batted atrociously on a track which offered true bounce. “Now the time has come for the top order to perform,” he said.

Although Dravid said that the wicket looks a good one, he refrained from announcing his line-up and kept it under the wrap till Monday morning.

The reason behind the delay in announcing the final XII was not revealed by the Indian captain. “Dew factor is a crucial one these days, and it has to be looked after carefully,” Dravid merely stated.

Asked whether he is happy with the team’s performance against the Proteas, Mr Dependable said: “We have started the series badly, but came back winning the Bangalore tie, which shows that we are capable of bouncing back.”

But it was clear from honest confession that Monday is a new day and a new game and so he is concentrating on performing on the given day and not thinking of the good results against Sri Lanka.

On the contrary, Dravid’s South African counterpart Graeme Smith skipped the media conference. Deputy Mark Boucher took the questions instead, and said that they don’t expect any grass on the turf, but are still hopeful that their bowlers like Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel, Andrew Hall will take the battle away from the hosts.

“We want to keep the momentum going and before the start of the final one-dayer we will field a full-strength side to win the series 3-1,” Boucher said after the nets.

South Africans are using the Sourav Ganguly controversy to their advantage. “The recent controversy made the Indian youngsters uneasy and that might affect their on-field show, on which we will capitalise,” Boucher remarked.