India’s reputation goes down under

While Australia have lived upto their reputation as the world’s best Test side, apart from being the one-day champs, nothing has gone right for India, barring skipper Sachin Tendulkar’s majestic batting braving poor umpiring and VVS Laxman’s classy 167 at the fag end to finally signal his arrival on the international stage.

India’s whitewash at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Tuesday is the second such reverse in Australia after Tiger Pataudi’s men lost 0-4 in 1967-68, though Mohd Azharuddin’s side went down 0-4 in a five-Test series in 1991-92.

It is also the worst-ever result for India since their 0-3 walloping in England in 1974 under Ajit Wadekar.

Batting, considered their forte, proved the biggest letdown as India lost by 285 runs in Adelaide, 180 runs in Melbourne and by an innings and 141 runs in Sydney, ironically considered their most favoured venue owing to past record and a traditionally spinner-friendly pitch.

Tendulkar lived up to his tag as the world’s best batsman by compiling 278 runs, including a superb 116 in Melbourne and two fifties, but the much-touted middle order was an abject failure as neither Rahul Dravid nor Saurav Ganguly clicked.

Dravid, a superb batting technician, scored just 93 runs from six innings at an average of 15.5 and worse, got them at an average of 10 runs per hour.

He spent a little over nine hours at the crease and made every single run in just over four balls each. He hit just three fours in the entire series!

India, with their openers proving an apology, paid the penalty for being too defensive when the bouncy pitches and accurate bowling called for a far more positive approach, which was proved once Laxman opened out to flay the fearsome Aussie bowling here.

Left-hander Ganguly, who tallied 177 and averaged 29.5, fared slightly better but could not stay on after getting his eye in and came second best to Aussie tactics as he ended up the bunny of part-time medium-pacer Greg Blewett.

The chosen openers Devang Gandhi — omitted after a pathetic show in the first Test — and Sadagoppan Ramesh — who broke his left thumb fending a Brett Lee snorter — were both out by the third Test nursing psychological and physical injuries.

Ajit Agarkar with 11 wickets for 31.90 was the most successful Indian bowler, but finished with the dubious world record of five successive Test zeroes, four of them consecutive first ball ones.

“Five Rings Agarkar and surely he could work out a good sponsorship deal through the IOC,” said one acidic comment.

Pace spearhead Javagal Srinath finished with 10 wickets at 46.10 apiece, but leg-spinner Anil Kumble’s image as a match winner suffered a big dent with just five at 90 apiece. His defiant batting however was some consolation.

Tendulkar blamed the batsmen’s inability to stay put and build partnerships as a major reason for the debacle while his Aussie counterpart Steve Waugh pointed out technical flaws like high backlifts and use of heavy bats.

But Waugh said the biggest problem for India lay in their negative mindset.

The umpiring, shocking decisions given against Tendulkar and turned down, in particular against Justin Langer at Sydney, only added to the woes of the Indians.

The controversial Darrell Hair, who no-balled Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and was a signatory to the complaint that led to Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar’s ban, turned down leg before appeals by Indians and refused Tendulkar’s request for use of sawdust at SCG and for change of the ball that had gone woefully out of shape.

Biased decisions by Sri Lankan match referee Ranjan Madugalle, fining Venkatesh Prasad for exhuberant celebration but letting Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting go scot free for ugly demonstrations, had only worsened the atmosphere.

As the demoralised India and Pakistan square up for the one-day triangular series starting on January 9, it looks unlikely the event will pass off peacefully.

The cricket establishment could be facing its severest test since the Packer days and time appears to be running out.

Dravid scored just 93 runs from six innings at an average of 15.5. Worse, he got them at an average of 10 runs per hour. He spent a little over nine hours at the crease and made every single run in just over four balls each. He hit just three fours in the entire series!