The writing is on the wall for India, and it says that something must change if they are to conquer the world as they expected to. Over the past eight days there's been no shortage of suggestions as to what that 'something' might be. New personnel, a new coach, a different captain, improvements at domestic level, a board that puts on-field cricket ahead of revenue. All have been mentioned.

Of the myriad offerings from the Indian press, the messages projected by the BCCI are surely the greatest culprit, because the board's arrogance has flowed, hand-in-hand with money, through the system and appears to have created a national team with a soft underbelly. There are certainly individuals in the Indian side to whom it would be disrespectful to attach accusations of arrogance and nonchalance, but the absence of fight in Australia has undoubtedly been the most worrying aspect of a disastrous tour.

The series is long gone, but the tourists still have the opportunity to show that they possess a related, but far more important, virtue: pride. They were unable to stop the rot in England, but there is less excuse not to now because they are still close to full strength.

However they will be without their captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, suspended after another over-rate infringement, with the struggling Virender Sehwag stepping in. It will be interesting to see how the change in dynamic impacts on the team. Wriddhiman Saha will take the gloves, and have the chance to atone for a farcical debut in Nagpur in 2010 that was hardly his fault.

One other change will see Ravichandran Ashwin return in place of Vijay Kumar after an ill-advised selection for the Perth Test failed miserably. VVS Laxman is the man under the most pressure, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see him answer his critics with a solid knock at a ground that he's enjoyed in the past.

Australia are rightly oozing confidence at the moment, and have confirmed their XI publicly. Very few of those XI have not made a significant contribution over the course of the first three Tests, although Ryan Harris and Nathan Lyon will be eager to make an impact after limited opportunities thus far and Brad Haddin is desperately short of runs.

Lyon returns to the side in place of Mitchell Starc, who could feel slightly hard done by after taking four wickets to Harris' two at the WACA. Harris will want to prove that his body can stand up to a second Test in a row, although it would be no great accomplishment given that there were nine days between them.

Half of India's side will have fond memories of Adelaide, having won there in the 2003/04 season and drawn in early 2008. Drier conditions mean that the ball won't nibble around quite so much and that reverse swing and spin - with which India are familiar - will be handy assets. Another heavy defeat in such surrounds would make it impossible to deny that something is very wrong, no matter what that something might be.

Key Men
Australia: He's done enough to keep the press and public happy thus far, but only because conditions haven't been conducive to spin. If Nathan Lyon gets the opportunity to spin Australia to victory on a fifth-day Adelaide pitch, how will he fare?

India: One of India's biggest problems on the tour has been the opening partnership, which has failed to pass 24 thus far. Virender Sehwag has taken the most flak, but the added responsibility of captaincy is likely to bring the best out of him, particularly as the pitch should be more to his liking.

Last Five Head-To-Head Results
January 2012: Third Test: Australia won by an innings and 37 runs in Perth
January 2012: Second Test: Australia won by an innings and 68 runs in Sydney
December 2011: First Test: Australia won by 122 runs in Melbourne
October 2010: Second Test: India won by seven wickets in Bangalore
October 2010: First Test: India won by one wicket in Mohali

Prediction
India will surely bat better than they have in the past two matches, but it's difficult to see them taking 20 Australian wickets. A draw therefore seems to the most likely result.

Online betting firm Sky Bet has the draw at an attractive 19/10 in the betting for victory in the fourth Test. Visit Sky Bet for the latest cricket betting.

Probable Teams
Australia: Ed Cowan, David Warner, Shaun Marsh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke (capt), Michael Hussey, Brad Haddin (wk), Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Nathan Lyon.

India: Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag (capt), Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Virat Kohli, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.

Dates: 24-28 January
Morning session: 10:30 - 12:30 (00:00 - 02:00 GMT)
Afternoon session: 13:10- 15:10 (02:40 - 04:40 GMT)
Evening session: 15:30 - 17:30 (05:00 - 07:00 GMT)

On-field umpires: Kumar Dharmasena and Aleem Dar
Third umpire: Paul Wilson
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle

Tristan Holme