India, Feb. 28 -- On one hand is the most consistent team in the last two years. On the other, a side that has reinvented the format, is precociously talented but equally combustible. Put them together in a virtual knockout game and we are talking about a T20 metaverse poised to produce a thriller.

Ten years ago, Wankhede bore the weight of a dream shattered into a billion pieces when a rampaging West Indies took down India's 192 with four balls remaining. This time India are a much more hardened unit and West Indies equally flamboyant. Their passage too has been similar-heavy defeats to South Africa followed by dominating wins against Zimbabwe. On paper, there is very little to choose between them.

Yet only one side will go through fro...