Back again, smiling

After the mauling in Mohali and initial grind at the Kotla, Australia have bounced back strongly.

It was easy enough to miss it. Under the roar that enveloped the Ferozeshah Kotla on Sunday evening, hidden behind the broad-shouldered Anil Kumble8217;s final goodbye, handicapped by lumps in the throat and misty eyes, and caught up in the whirlpool of emotions that flowed through India8217;s favourite hunting ground, it was easy enough to miss the fact that for the first time in the last three weeks, Ricky Ponting was walking off the field with a broad smile on his face, not the irritable frown that seemed to have been plastered on his forehead.

The visiting Australians, depleted by retirements of their biggest giants, burdened by the legacy of the past two decades, had started off well enough in Bangalore where they had India on the mat for a good part of five days. But their inability to blast the door open despite wedging a fair bit of foot in there was seen as the first sign of changing fortunes.

Then came Mohali, where they were out-thought and out-fought; with bat, ball and, rather amusingly, in the field as well. Brett Lee and Ricky Ponting were having a go not at opposition batsmen but each other, leading to giggles that Greg Chappell had made an impact after all.

Over to Delhi, and they spent two hot days on the field, playing awestruck spectators as Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman composed distinctly different and equally effective double-hundreds. But instead of being crushed under a mountain of 613 runs, they suddenly, inexplicably, got up and dusted themselves off and started climbing again.

Chipping in

What would please Australia more than the fact that they got away from the third Test unscathed and alive in the series is the manner in which they got within 36 runs of India8217;s total. Matthew Hayden conquered his impulse to butcher Zaheer Khan and dug in instead, Simon Katich managed to find the right blend of dogged defence and nudgy run-gathering, Ponting kept Ishant Sharma out, Michael Hussey was back to his usual, monstrous self and Michael Clarke made the most of his good fortune to round things off.

India got there with two double-tons, Australia with four fifties and a century. In Mohali, their batsmen could hardly put bat on ball; going to Nagpur, they8217;re all in form. Even Lee bowled, even if in patches, like he used to.

And so, the visitors found their voice. Michael Clarke came out at the end of Day Four to point out that it was India who were being defensive. Ponting, at the end of the game, could8217;ve been forgiven for bringing out his best told-you-we-weren8217;t-rubbish grin. 8220;We had our backs to the wall from stumps on the first day,8221; said the Aussie skipper.

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8220;But I am proud with the way we stuck at it in this Test match. Our batting through the game has been terrific. We got the worst of the batting conditions on that Kotla track, but our application and our skills through the remaining three days have been pretty good. So there8217;re some good things heading into Nagpur.8221;

Still in the game

Despite this mini-resurgence, India will be hugely disappointed if they don8217;t win this series. They fought well in Bangalore, didn8217;t put a foot wrong in Mohali and, apart from some shoddy catching on the fourth day, did most things right in Delhi as well. A track with a bit more bite might8217;ve done the trick. A fit Harbhajan Singh could8217;ve made a difference. No cause for panic.

They8217;ll do well to be wary though. The Australians might be a shadow of the all-conquering champions that strutted through the world over the last two decades but they haven8217;t 8212; though they did give that impression through the early part of the tour 8212; forgotten how to play cricket.