THE unseasonal rains and the threat of a cyclone put paid to any thoughts of India winning the last match and narrow the margin of their defeat down to 4-3.
A defeat is a defeat and it really does not matter by what margin though of course a clean sweep by the opposition means that the team has been thoroughly embarrassed and exposed too.
The disappointing part is that Australia were not even a full strength team and India who were aspiring to be No.1 during the series were unable to beat even that second string team and that too on home territory.
A good start whether batting or bowling is a key factor in achieving wins for it gives the team just the platform it needs to push ahead.
However, India never got a good start and that was because the immensely talented Virender Sehwag didn’t buckle down to play a long innings.
He got going in just about every match excepting the Guwahati game where he got a beauty from Johnson but otherwise he was trying to belt the cover off the ball even if he had just hit a boundary or six and getting out in the process.
It was a big let down to the team and it was this attitude and not his ability that had led to his dropping for a little, while a couple of years back.
In cricket be it the longer version or the shorter format, players have to make the adjustments to suit the team so if a bowler has to bowl a line, length and trajectory that he normally does not, but is the need of the team, then he has to try and do it even if it is against his natural grain.
It is not just Sehwag but the rest of the Indian batting that didn’t click when needed. There were of course individual feats but not the partnerships that win close games.
In contrast the Australians built solid partnerships and even if they didn’t always get off to a good opening Ricky Ponting would build a partnership and see that the team got a good score on the board.
The Australians may have lost Brett Lee but the replacement Doug Bollinger made sure that Lee wasn’t missed with a big-hearted performance in every game that he played in.
Nathan Hauritz bowled some canny spells too and with Australia’s fielding being plus 20 runs at least in every game, they were able to give the bowling the edge that it needed in the absence of their star bowlers.
What the series did was to show that one day cricket is alive and well at least in India.
There will always be great interest when countries play against each other especially countries vying for the top spot.
India missed out but the Australians have gone back not only with the series win and their top ranking intact but also with some new players capable of replacing the experienced ones if the need arises.
