The foremost Cricket expert we know, Amar Shah, on a rivalry that’s Ohio State/Michigan, Cowboys/Redskins, Red Sox/Yankees and UNC/Duke amazingly rolled into one.

For more than a decade now, the Lakers vs. Celtics equivalent in international cricket is Australia vs. India. Of course, India vs. Pakistan and Australia vs. England are the most renowned rivalries, but those match-ups are now tinged more with historical antecedent than actual competitive zeal. This is the mother of all cricket battles.

The Aussies visit to India this month for a series of test matches comes with more melodrama, intrigue, and song and dance numbers than the gaudiest Bollywood musical. Bring the crumpets. This is going to be one mad tea party.

Australia has sustained a Lance Armstrong dominance of the sports winning the last three Cricket World Cups. The only country that has been able to consistently cause fits for them has been India, where cricket is prasad to more than a billion people. Yet, even with the devotion the public has for the sport, the Indian team has been tantamount to the New York Mets, constantly breaking the hearts of their fan base. The country is still reeling from the traumatic first round collapse of the Indian squad in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Still, for some reason they continue to rise to the challenge and give the Australian team more than they can handle.

Former Australian captain Steven Waugh channeled his inner Trekkie when he called winning in India the “final frontier” because it was the one place in the world where the men down under seemed to disappear ala Captain Kirk transporter style on the pitch. India, on the other hand, is the only team since 2003 to beat the Aussies on their own turf. In 22 test matches, Australia has only won only ten times, with four draws.

“We have played some of our best cricket against Australia,” Indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar told newspapers.

The last series between the two teams was overshadowed by controversy. Indian bowler Harbhajan Singh, dubbed by one Australian player as “an obnoxious little weed,” was accused of calling Australian player Andrew Symonds a monkey. Singh was suspended, but the decision was later overruled. Also, an arguable umpiring mistake may have cost India a crucial victory.

However, the most important back story of the series is the swan song of India’s Fab Four. Saurav, Sachin, Rahul and V.V.S are the country’s Paul, John, George, and Ringo. Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and V.V.S. Laxman, once cricket’s Murder’s Row, are now in their mid 30’s.

“These men have fought and defeated everything: selectors, derision, pitches, Australians,” wrote sports writer Rohit Brijnath, “but age is beyond beating.€ Now, they resemble the Atlanta Braves pitching staff.

With the advent of Twenty/20 system, cricket is moving into the shorter, quicker paced iteration of the sport. Test cricket is become an endangered species. So heed my warning, this month’s Australia vs. India series may be the last time to catch this classical form of the game as it heads into the soft-dying day of nostalgia.