Lose by a mile and wait for catastrophe

The ‘little master’ flickered out, the ‘very very special’ batsman floundered, the ‘Bengal tiger’ roared briefly, while ‘the wall’ stood still. In a matter of four days, the reputation of the famed Indian batting line-up stood in tatters against a bowling attack that was penetrative no doubt, but not out of this world.

To put the blame on any one batsman would be nothing less than a sin, as would be absolving them of collective failure. For even those who had played themselves in, were unable to stretch their knocks on a pitch that was not riddled with any devils.

After skipper Kumble brought the team back in style in the first innings with a five-wicket effort, the onus was on the batsmen to knock up a big total. When that was not to be, the least they could have done was to try and take the match to the fifth day, even if with the faintest glimmer of hope.

Rahul Dravid, a batsman whose reputation in away Test matches has been a highlight of a top-class career, played the kind of innings that has, in the past, earned him a lot of detractors. Going deep into a shell against the Aussies is like self asphyxiation, and Dravid should have known that. Give an Aussie an over full of dot balls and you give him time to tie you in knots. That he was bamboozled by Andrew Symonds in the second innings, when the strongly built player switched from medium-pacers to spin, would not have done his confidence any good.

Tendulkar’s first innings knock was the brightest spot in a dull team batting effort, but he played the ball on to the stumps in a fashion that now looks familiar. Brett Lee sorted him out in the second innings and enticed him to chase a ball outside the off stump.

That Laxman’s dismissal triggers big celebrations among the Aussies was evident both times he was out, as he pushed himself into an inextricable position in the first innings and played a casual stroke in the second.

Sourav Ganguly was the only one who stroked the ball well in both innings, but seeing the wickets fall rapidly at the other end does not get the best out of anyone and so it was with the batsman who has defied critics and knocked up a resolute 1000 plus Test runs this calendar year.

Yuvraj Singh, who had a doubtful decision going against him in the first innings, did not get a real feel of the conditions and it was hardly any better for Wasim Jaffer and Mahendra Dhoni.

A team that backed its batting and did its best to accommodate all the top names in the side at the expense of a specialist opener, as also a bowler, has fallen flat on its face. Give the Aussies an inch and they invade a kilometer. Lose by 337 runs and wait for catastrophe!

The abject failure has put the team management in a soup. If they have to drop Dravid down the order, it will have to be at the expense of Yuvraj, someone they backed for the Melbourne Test, and ideally should persist with, for at least one more.

They also have the difficult decision of whether to play an extra pace-man in place of an unimpressive Harbhajan Singh. That too on a Sydney pitch expected to aid turn.

Taking hard decisions is not what Indians are known for and patchwork always seems to do. Not persisting with specialist openers, tinkering with batting line-ups and not playing horses for courses are points that keep returning to haunt the Indians in different forms.

As for the remaining Tests, the Indians not only have to get their house in order but also need to show the kind of aggression that they promised before the tour. They have to try and eat the monster before it gobbles them up.