Champagne before lunch

Peter Siddle then got Wriddhiman Saha,caught behind pushing out at the ball. Zaheer Khan went in familiar fashion,backing away,swinging at Ben Hilfenhaus and looping it off his edge to short cover. Nathan Lyon ended it with his fourth wicket,Brad Haddin taking his third catch of the day,the ball lodging itself into his gloves an instant after Umesh Yadav nicked the offie.

It was all over. But the Aussies remained at the Adelaide Oval till much later,celebrating the 4-0 whitewash. At half past four,they all trooped out of the dressing room,to pose for photographs under the ornate,manually-operated scoreboard in front of the Moreton Bay figs at the Northern End.

Indias Siddle riddle

All except Peter Siddle,that is,who came back to the middle,measured out his run-up,and delivered an imaginary ball,extending his follow-through into an arms-upraised celebration.

Its a sight that the Indians grew increasingly tired of as the tour progressed. Everytime they had sensed that a partnership was developing,Siddle would come on,accompanied by an increase in the crowds decibel levels,and take a wicket.

At the end of Day Three,Siddle had suggested that these breakthroughs had had less to do with him than the fact that the batsmen were suffering lapses of concentration when he came on,after seeing out a testing spell from another pair of bowlers who had given them nothing to score off. Two days later,after picking up the Man of the Match award for his first-innings five-for,in a Test match with two double centurions,Siddle said that the success of the Australian pace attack was down to how well they maintained pressure on the Indians as a unit and in partnerships. In a series sprinkled with Indian batting collapses,he picked out a wicketless spell for special mention.

I think the best bowling spell we had was probably in Sydney when me and Hilfy bowled a partnership, he said. We didnt get any wickets but we bowled about nine overs straight of maidens.

This was late in the afternoon of Day Three at the SCG. The wicket had flattened out completely. Between the fall of Australias third wicket and their declaration,their middle order had scored 622 runs for the loss of one wicket. India,with a gargantuan first-innings deficit,were two down for 105. Gautam Gambhir was on 65. Sachin Tendulkar had just arrived at the crease.

Siddle and Hilfenhaus bowled eight consecutive maidens. With two gully fieldsmen waiting for a miscued,sliced cover drive a common mode of dismissal during the series Siddle patiently probed away with full,slightly wide outswingers. Tendulkar didnt play the shot,but Siddle didnt lose patience. I think that just summed up the summer and what we wanted to achieve, Siddle said. In every match that we bowled,that is how we wanted to go about it. That was perfect and showed what we were all about.

Most batting sides would suffer against that near-robotic adherence to a full length on or around off stump,laced with swing and occasionally movement off the deck. Maybe not as badly as the Indians did,but suffer nonetheless.

Failure of bowlers

The biggest indictment of the Indian team over this tour was the fact that their bowlers never managed to replicate the Australians in the matter of maintaining pressure on the batsmen. Ishant Sharma,more than 40 Tests old,didnt have enough control over his action to prevent at least one ball every over from sliding down the leg side or dropping short. Umesh Yadav bowled a few good balls and lots of hit-me balls.

Its pointless to look for a hierarchy of failure and identify whether it was the batting or the bowling that was more responsible for the sequence of overseas reverses. Neither was Test quality. But the batsmen couldnt choose what lines and lengths they wanted to face. The bowlers,no matter which helmeted figure crouched over a bat at the other end,could still decide where they wanted to land the ball. If they targeted the 8216;good areas they spoke about in press conferences,they failed to hit them with any sort of consistency.

India could therefore put together a decent bowling partnership for the odd half-hour,but never through an entire innings. And so,in nearly every Test,they let slip opportunities to work their way into the game.

Indias combined bowling average for the series of 51.1 was their fifth worst in any series in their history. In England,they had fared even worse,finishing with their second-worst series average of 58.45. With wickets giving them a fair deal of assistance on both tours,these are damning numbers.

Unfair to say we dont care: Viru

Virender Sehwag,stand-in-skipper during the last Test at Adelaide,needless to say,had a lot to answer for after being at the receiving end of a whitewash. He spoke on whether the seniors needed to be phased out and the way forward:

On the calls for retirement

I clarify that there is no need for retirement from anybody in this team. and they will take their call when they need it and when they think that their time is up.

On the way forward

The best way out is to forget what happened and to concentrate on what you will do in coming matches and series. Practise hard,and plan well,and execute your plans in the game.

Is it unfair to say that the defeat doesnt hurt Team India?

Its very unfair to say that we don;t care. Everybody cares about their performance. We are very passionate about the game,and we are passionate about the team. its a shame if somebody says that. If you lose the game,you should work out what went wrong and perform well in next game. We are trying that,but it is not happening. It doesnt mean that we are happy to lose.

Do we need Aussie-style review?

We have to look at ourselves. What went wrong with us. And then we have to take a call.

If only 8230;

With their bowlers unable to sustain pressure on the Australian batsmen,India let the game slip from positions of strength or parity in nearly every Test on the Australian tour. The moments that mattered:

Melbourne: In the first innings,in helpful conditions,India let the Australian tail take the score from 214 for six to 333 all out. In the second innings,the bowlers have Australia four down for 27 effectively 78 for four with the first innings lead. Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey put on 115. The last two wickets then add 74,against spread-out fields and sloppy fielding.

Sydney: Bowled out for 191,India need early wickets,and get them. But with Australia 37 for three,ordinary bowling and defensive tactics let them off the hook. Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke put on 288,Clarke and Hussey an unbroken 334,and Australia declare on 659 for four.

Perth: On Day One,India are dismissed for 161 on a wicket with bounce,with a breeze blowing across the ground providing consistent swing. Bowling on the same afternoon,India fail to make use of the conditions,and spray it all around. David Warner takes them apart. Having let the openers put on 210,India show what might have been,taking 10 wickets for 159.

Adelaide: With Zaheer Khan and R Ashwin bowling intelligently to smart fields,India have Australia three down at lunch on a flat wicket on the opening day. But they let the initiative slip once more,and Ponting and Clarke both score double hundreds as Australia pile up an imposing total.