The visiting Australian team has earned a couple of extra days for shopping and sight seeing by virtue of their convincing victory in the first Test at Mumbai. The roll of victories is still continuing and the way the hosts played in Mumbai it does appear that the streak may not be broken in India.

On the other hand, the unexpected extra time on hand gives an opportunity for Ganguly and Wright to analyse and regroup their thoughts. The analysis with regard to what went wrong may not take too much time but to develop a strategy to try and level the series will keep the Indian think tank occupied most of the time from now on. With Mongia and Srinath suffering injuries during the game, their fitness will probably be another worrying factor. Sourav Ganguly will probably like to forget the last three days in a flash as nothing went right for him starting with the toss.

Losing to one of the best sides in the game is acceptable, but the manner in which the Indians caved in and that too on home soil is definitely too much to digest. The hosts were outplayed in all the departments of the game and the major difference in the attitude between the two sides was too conspicuous to miss. Waugh mentioned that they had a plan for each of the Indian batsman but the precision with which they executed their plans was something remarkable. Some of the Indian wickets were given away far too easily than expected to make things easy for the Aussies. Another perennial problem in Indian cricket is the way some of the established cricketers don't stretch themselves enough in the interest of the team. It is about time the management made it clear that nobody can rest on their laurels.

The partnership of Tendulkar and Dravid had to rewrite the script of the first Test if the Indians were to make a match of it. The important first session was negotiated without loss and like on the second day the middle session of the day swung the fortunes in Australia's way irrevocably. Tendulkar looked in good form but Dravid somehow got into his shell like he tends to do frequently. Warne got the wicket of Dravid yet again and to be fair Dravid was a victim of his own device. Tendulkar was dismissed in an unfortunate manner and with Ganguly gifting his wicket away with a tardy effort, the Indians had to accept the inevitable. Mongia tried to be enterprising and it was bemusing to see Srinath come out to bat when he was not feeling up to it. Not that Srinath could have turned the game round on its head, but there was always a chance of him suffering another blow on his hand.

The Aussies knocked off the required runs very comfortably and in the end no other victory would have pleased Steve Waugh as much as this one. From the Indian point of view, there is enough time for Ganguly's gang to get over this defeat and come back strongly in the second one at Calcutta. In order to do that, the Indians have to be really convinced that they can beat Australia. Even an iota of doubt in anyone's mind will only infect the entire team, which will prove disastrous for the home side. Hirwani's recall and the subsequent decision to put him on a trial does indicate that the think tank is not crystal clear in its thinking. The team management has to get rid of cobwebs (if any) in their minds and instill supreme confidence in the team if the hosts are to get anywhere near succeeding against the Australians.

© Woorkheri Raman