Mental disintegration

Sehwags record on these two tours of England and Australia makes for horrific viewing. In 10 innings,he has made 159 runs at 15.90,with just one half century and three ducks. All the cheap dismissals seem to have combined to inject poisonous self-doubt in what was once the clearest mind in the game.

Earlier,his batting was all about instinctive reaction. Now,when he slapped Ben Hilfenhaus between point and gully for four,there was an element of artifice about the stroke. His feet,for one,werent nonchalantly planted either side of the crease. They instead took off six inches and splayed out in ungainly manner,landing wide apart with a judder. He always hits it hard,but never with that desperate flail of arms. His thought processes didnt seem like see ball,hit ball so much as see ball,hit ball? Okay,but I hope it doesnt go to one of those two fielders.

Keeping that mind in pristine condition isnt easy,especially at a time like now,when Sehwags impact on the team dynamic is the subject of off-field speculation,never mind the lack of any evidence.

India havent had a mental conditioning coach since Paddy Uptons post-World Cup departure. Sehwag has spoken effusively in the past about the role Upton played in keeping his mind at ease. Earlier,during the 2006 tour of the West Indies,he had acknowledged the impact of a long session with sports psychologist Rudi Webster having crossed 50 only three times in 19 innings before that meeting,he went and made 95 in the final ODI before tonking 180 in the second Test.

Even if causation is hard to prove,there certainly is correlation between Sehwags current away struggles and the absence of a mental conditioning trainer. Sehwag is in a critical point in his career,with plenty of years left theoretically,but at an age 33 when his eye and reflexes can be called into question. His impact on his teams fortunes is like no other player in world cricket his board would do well to invest in the sort of support structure that can nurture his unique talent.

At the WACA,a few other Indian batsmen could have done with some mental conditioning too. More than anything,the Australian pace attacks relentless targetting of the top of off stump is a mental examination. Ball after ball,the batsman is forced to ask himself,do I have the technique,the discipline and the patience I need to survive this? In the midst of such endless probing,a mind clouded by doubt is likelier to dab at balls outside off stump instead of playing or leaving positively.

Sehwag fell to one such dab. VVS Laxman,for the nth time in the series,searched hesitantly at an outswinger he could have left alone,and was caught at third slip off Ben Hilfenhaus.

In Australias four-man pace attack,otherwise composed of full-length,off-stump-targeting outswing merchants,Mitchell Starc inserted a couple of unexpected questions in Indias exam paper with his height and left-arm-over angle. He dug one in to Gautam Gambhir,and the WACA wicket did the rest,causing the ball to trampoline at pace towards the left-handers chin. The gloves went up to protect the face,and the ball thudded into the bat handle before looping to gully.

The big scalp

To Sachin Tendulkar,he shaped one in from middle and off. The front foot,accustomed to the outswing of Siddle,Hilfenhaus and Ryan Harris,went across the crease. The ball snaked towards leg stump instead. Aleem Dars finger went up. Tendulkar responded with a rare show of displeasure. Ball-tracking technology suggested it would have hit leg stump.

Following Laxmans dismissal,Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli batted on till stumps,quelling eager amateur statisticians who wondered when the last two-day Test match occurred. Dravid looked in defiant mood,crashing Hilfenhaus and Starc off the back foot for fours in front of point,while Kohli played a couple of attractive strokes too.

At 88/4,with the deficit only 120,a win is still mathematically possible. But for that,India will need to get to the second new ball first,and then see it off. Of late,theyve struggled to achieve either.