The Indians, before they leave South Africa, should contact the Lost and Found department of the South African police and report the loss of the following item: hope.

India came to South Africa believing that for once, they could take on a top-class team on their own turf, and win. VVS Laxman's resurgence earlier in the year meant that India had a middle order which looked truly formidable - two of the four players at Nos. 3 to 6 had overseas averages over 50, and all of them had Test centuries abroad. SS Das, Man of the Series in Zimbabwe, looked solid at the top, the quality India had been searching for in an opener ever since Gavaskar retired.

The pace attack looked the best in years. Young guns like Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan had appeared on the scene, to support the experienced warhorses, Srinath and Prasad. And, for the first time since the 1970s quartet retired, India seemed to have two world-class spinners in one team: Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble.

All those dreams have now morphed into nightmare, and it is no exaggeration to say that a nation where cricket is a religion is on the verge of losing its faith. Events off the field have played their part in this, but the cricket alone was disheartening enough.

The batting was spineless. Sure, there were moments of brilliance from Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, but they should not be lauded too much, for they did not win any matches for India and that's the bottom line. Time and again, all the recognised batsmen threw their wickets away recklessly. Laxman's two dismissals in the unofficial match at Centurion were perfect illustrations: in each case, he chased a short, wide ball outside off, and slashed to gully. The level of irresponsibility was shocking, and this from men who are icons in their country, on whose shoulders lie the hopes of millions.

If there was any cause at all for cheer - and this really is clutching at straws - it was the doughty performance of Deep Dasgupta as a makeshift opener. He saved the match for India in the second Test at Port Elizabeth, gutsing it out against the new ball, and played with the same resolve at Centurion. He showed character - and India needs that more, much much more, than talent.

The bowlers, bar Srinath in the second Test, were pathetic. The pace bowlers had no control, no discipline, no excuse; Nehra and Khan might have been short of match practice, but there were five pace bowlers in the squad, and at this level of the game, such sloppiness cannot be condoned.

Among the spinners, Kumble gave his all, and it simply wasn't enough; he was sometimes parsimonious, never threatening. Harbhajan Singh, however, was the biggest disappointment. He was desperately impotent with the ball, his confidence shattered by a marauding South Africa. If England manage to capitalise on this, and attack him before he has time to recover, he may never be the same bowler again. For all those who have been hyping him so much, there is a lesson in this: one series does not make a Murali.

This was an excellent series for South Africa, from the point of view of practice. They have a summit meeting coming up soon with Australia, and some key players used the past two months to get their confidence in good order.

Gibbs, naively expected by some, including this writer, to be Harbhajan's bunny, continued his excellent form from the one-dayers, and made two sparkling centuries, getting the Man of the Series award. Pollock, who has a sub-20 bowling average and a 60-plus batting average for the year, got the first ten-for of his career, and Kallis continued his bludgeoning form with the bat, which has brought him an average of 70 this year in Tests. Australia are in for a tough time, though South Africa's bowling does look a bit dilapidated.

And India? They play England at home now, an encounter in which they would normally have been the favourites. But after a spanking as severe as this, they will not walk out onto the field with their heads held high. Morale is down, and hope is not a commodity they have in any abundance, after trading it in for despair with their favoured trading partners, South Africa.

Amit Varma is assistant editor at Wisden.com India.

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