All rounder Mathews strained his quad muscle during their semifinal against New Zealand, while Murali has played the quarterfinals and semifinals with a hamstring injury. The team management is likely to take a final call on Friday.

Midnight call
The security agencies are not willing to take any chances ahead of the final and are conducting a thorough background check of even all the officials and employees of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

That has meant some sleepless nights for their family members, as the police officials have even come visiting at their residence well past midnight to check whether they actually stay there. "The first person who had these guests (policeman) at his house at 2.30 am in the night was our security officer," said an MCA committee member on condition of anonymity.

All the MCA and BCCI employees are also providing their thumb impressions so that they're not stopped from entering the stadium in the next two days.