Against a team which leads 4-1 on head-to-head record, India have returned to their favourite Calcutta South Club (CSC) grass courts after 16 years.
Asked if India would be at a disadvantageous position minus Leander Paes on familiar surface at the South Club, Mahesh Bhupathi was dismissive in his reply.
Bhupathi said home comfort and the X-factor of Calcutta South Club's grass courts hold India in good stead in the tie.
World No. 18 Marco Cecchinato will lead Italy's challenge, while they have two others inside top-60. India's top-ranked Prajnesh Gunneswaran, on the other hand, is world number 102.
Cilic, a former U.S. Open champion, gave Croatia a 3-1 unassailable lead in the best-of-five series on indoor clay in northern France with a ruthless display.
They lost 6-7(5), 2-6, 6-7(4) to relatively inexperienced pair of Nikola Milojevic and Danilo Petrovic after two hours and 22 minutes on indoor courts.
Djere, ranked 86, had lost both his earlier Davis Cup matches before clashing with Ramkumar, ranked 135, at Kraljevo Sports Venue.
Carlos Ramos, the chair umpire who penalized Williams is also handling their best-of-five semifinal series against Croatia this weekend.
Recently-crowned US Open champion Novak Djokovic's decision to opt out of the playoffs along with world number 33 Filip Krajinovic has raised hopes of an equal contest between the two teams.
The reigning Asian Games champion pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan will be playing the doubles.
Leander Paes is 44 now, with a world record 43 doubles wins in Davis Cup to his credit.
Rafael Nadal hadn't played since the Australian Open quarterfinals because of a right hip injury, and was never challenged by the 34th-ranked Kohlschreiber at the bullring staging the clay-court tie in Valencia.
First, Isner beat Joris De Loore 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4, and Querrey followed with a straight sets victory, beating Ruben Bemelmans 6-1, 7-6 (5), 7-5 to put the US a victory away from reaching the semifinals.
Leander Paes, India's Davis Cup hero for years, was tied on 42 wins with Italian great Nicola Pietrangeli for long but finally surpassed him, albeit, in a foreign land.
The 44-year-old Paes is tied on 42 wins with Italian great Nicola Pietrangeli and one more win will make him the most successful doubles player in the history of Davis Cup.
India will face China in the Asia/Oceania Group 1 second round at Tianjin, China on April 6-7.
The 64-year-old, who is now a commentator, said he was not in favour of tinkering with the Davis Cup format and suggested that the ITF should make competition in the elite World Group a biennial affair with all top players part of it.
Paes has returned to Top-50 and is placed 46 in the rankings after his stupendous show at the ATP 500 event in Dubai where he ended runners-up.
Germany will play either Britain or Spain in the quarterfinals from April 6-8.
Following victories over Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer last week at the ATP Finals, Goffin's morale is rock solid as he prepares to lead Belgium against France in the Davis Cup final.
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