"We're playing at home, where our main strength is spin. But this kind of wicket takes that advantage away from us," Ganguly told reporters on Monday.

"I asked the groundsman a few days ago for the grass to be removed but he's not done much. The curator here is the man in charge and he has his own ideas."

Gilchrist said he had been pleasantly surprised.

"It looks like a perfect Australian wicket," he said. "But we're not jumping around. We've to see what it looks like tomorrow morning. We'll still have to play well to win."

Australia, seeking their first Test series win on Indian soil since 1969, lead the four-match series 1-0.

The wicket at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium is normally perfect for batting, but this time around it has an even spread of seam-friendly grass on it. There is also dampness to encourage swing.

Ganguly would have preferred a drier, balder track to assist his spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

Curator Kishore Pradhan, however, defended his work.

"It'll turn later in the match. I've made a standard wicket and I don't see what all the fuss is about," he told this news agency.

India, with Sachin Tendulkar returning from a tennis elbow injury, were also debating on Monday about who should open the batting alongside Virender Sehwag.

Yuvraj Singh, more a batting all-rounder, took on the role in the drawn second Test but an Indian team source said specialist opener Akash Chopra would get the nod in Nagpur.

"Chopra is definitely in the fray," Ganguly said on Monday.

Chopra has been criticised for batting too slowly but played an important part in India's drawn series in Australia last year by holding up one end.

Mohammad Kaif is likely to miss out despite a career-best 64 on his return to Test cricket in Madras last week, while Mumbai medium-pacer Ajit Agarkar will play, replacing Irfan Pathan who has a side strain.

Australia, having considered the wicket, have added paceman Brett Lee to their 12-man team ahead of Nathan Hauritz.

"Lee will give us a definite option," Gilchrist said. "But we'll decide after looking at the wicket tomorrow morning."

But the batting line-up will be unchanged until the fourth Test, when regular skipper Ricky Ponting returns from injury.

Australia are eager to wrap up the series in Glenn McGrath's 100th Test.

"McGrath is one of Australia's greatest bowlers ever and it's been a privilege to belong to an era where we've played alongside him. It'll be a great day for him," Gilchrist said.

The visitors won the first Test in Bangalore by 217 runs. On their last tour of India in 2001, they had taken a 1-0 lead but the hosts hit back to pull off a 2-1 victory.

TEAMS
INDIA (from):Sourav Ganguly (captain), Akash Chopra, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Vangipurappu Laxman, Mohammad Kaif, Parthiv Patel, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh.

AUSTRALIA (from): Adam Gilchrist (captain), Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Simon Katich, Damien Martyn, Darren Lehmann, Michael Clarke, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz, Brett Lee.

Umpires: David Shepherd (England) and Aleem Dar (Pakistan).