DLF League

There are no one-sided coins. Are Australia on the wane or are India finally ready to displace them from the Test throne after 13 years of virtually unchallenged rule? As ever, it’s a bit of both.

Ricky Ponting’s party began this tour aiming for their ninth successive series victory, which would have equalled the record set by England 116 years ago (though the extant mark did include two rubbers numbering just a single Test, making Australia’s sequence rather worthier).

That they seldom looked remotely like doing so after Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh’s stand on the third morning of the rubber, and ultimately suffered their heaviest series defeat for two decades, could be traced to a host of factors.

Most obviously, in the immediate post-McGrath-and-Warne era, and with Stuart MacGill no longer available to fill one of those immense pairs of boots, the tourists were always going to struggle to bowl India out twice on their own pitches.

Brett Lee’s recent divorce may have tempered the spearhead’s cutting-edge, the upshot eight victims at nearly 62 apiece and some heated words with his captain; Stuart Clark, when fit, seemed unusually muted, striking just twice in 73 overs, leaving the new ball, crucially, in shaky hands.

Mitchell Johnson baled them out on occasion, and Shane Watson had his moments, but not until Jason Krezja’s remarkable debut in the final Test did an Australian bowler pose a prolonged threat. Even then, control was elusive: India scored too freely for it to make any significant difference.

Alongside options, indeed, control was what Ponting most patently lacked. Losing the last three tosses didn’t help, granted, but there was far more to it than simply bad luck.

Had he or Matthew Hayden been their customary selves with the bat, the sort of totals required to put their heavy-scoring opponents under pressure, or even give them pause for thought, were inevitably going to be out of reach. For all their staunchness, Simon Katich and the two Michaels, Clarke and Hussey, were only ever fleetingly in command.

Yet flip that coin and a more forgiving picture emerges. Even though Australia were still in with a chance of a series-squaring win on the penultimate afternoon, India had almost all the individual stars.

MS Dhoni, who led the side in two Tests and much of a third, out-captained his often static counterpart. Ishant Sharma continued to plague Ponting with his bounce and pace; three times Zaheer Khan’s swing made short work of Hayden. Harbhajan and Amit Mishra were the best spinners by a distance.

Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Murali Vijay repeatedly gave the innings substance from the outset; Rahul Dravid was alone among the middle-order titans in failing to augment his century collection. The only fifties by tailenders on either side came from Harbhajan (two) and Zaheer. The hosts, in fact, won all the batting battles: eight century stands to two; five centuries to four; 17 fifties to 10. Only in fielding did Australia hold any advantage.

So, did India prosper because Australia allowed it? Or did Australia allow it because India compelled them to by sheer force of performance and will? The debate is a perennial one.

Let’s content ourselves with the observation that India seem better equipped to cope with the gradual loss of their giants than Australia have with their depletions. And the somewhat less than bold prediction that England will have more to worry about in Ahmedabad next month than they will when the Ashes roll around next July.