Sanjay Manjrekar reflects on another disappointing away series for India The Test series in South Africa was a further confirmation of India's limitations overseas. I am not one for knee-jerk reactions, and would not drop players on the basis of the report card from South Africa. The root of the problems lie elsewhere; they have to be addressed, and addressed swiftly, to move towards bringing about a transformation in India's abysmal track record abroad.

Talent has to be monitored at all levels, and in all conditions, for success to be consistent. And for that to happen, problems at grassroot levels have to be addressed. For example, we in the Mumbai Cricket Association cricket improvement committee have recommended to the age-group coaches that batsmen who are brought up on turf wickets also get to bat, on a daily basis, on matting wickets, artificial tracks and concrete pitches so that their skills are honed in their formative years. Once technique gets defined to one particular condition, quick adjustments to alien tracks become difficult.

The same logic applies for our bowlers as well. How many Indian bowlers bowl close to the stumps? Most are happy wheeling down wide of the stumps, pitching middle-and-leg and angling the ball in to a right-hander, because the pitches at home are conducive to spin. They are thus able to trouble the batsmen. Once they play on tracks that don't afford similar help, bowling away from the stump proves counterproductive; they get swept away and played around what is called cow corner. The bowlers become totally ineffective.

The successes against Australia at home, followed by a couple of victories in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, saw the Indian team raise visions of setting right the lopsided home-overseas record. But despair turned to defeats, and defeats to debacle in the Southern Cape. The outcome put things in perspective: India remain poor tourists.

The danger lies in what is now a well-established pattern: a series victory on designer tracks at home, following a rout abroad, and everything is forgotten in the mindless public hysteria. All inherent problems are brushed aside until the next overseas tour arrives - and with it the familiar shortcomings surface all over again. If we were unable to win on overseas soil in the past, what is most disturbing now is that we are unable to even save Test matches.

The solitary gain of sorts from the South African debacle has been young Deep Dasgupta, who showed excellent temperament and an unflinching commitment. He wasn't contented with one good performance and showed the hunger and desire to do well every time. I just hope he is a quick learner and a hard worker. There are wrinkles in his wicketkeeping which he needs to iron out, and once he does that he will serve India for sometime to come.

The slip catching of the Indians also showed qualitative improvement and consistency and it was good to see specialists like VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid manning the positions consistently.

Just a season ago both Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra raised hopes of them forming a good new-ball duo who could serve in the years to come. But in helpful conditions, both disappointed. We need to find out why two youngsters with much talent are unable to deliver the goods.

In my reckoning, Harbhajan Singh was the biggest disappointment, looking half the bowler he is in Indian conditions. He has played nine Tests abroad - for 23 wickets - and he hasn't look impressive in any. But he needs no greater motivation as Sarandeep Singh is doing enough to keep him on his toes.

I do not want to be too harsh on Anil Kumble because he is just coming back from injury and a long lay-off, and has a proven record of being ineffective abroad.

The selectors, coach and the senior members of the side need to take a serious view of Sourav Ganguly opting out of the Centurion game. India have a history of allowing the captains get away with a lot of things and it's unhealthy that yardsticks vary depending on the status of the player. I think Ganguly's dropping out demands serious investigation and physio Andrew Leipus should be grilled and asked to explain if the injury was indeed genuine. If it was not, it only means that it was a ruse to avoid further failures in the series. And in the process, to secure his place in the side and retain his hold on the captaincy, that will now enter a comfort zone on Indian tracks. If the injury was fake, the captain has set a bad example and needs to be censured.

Sanjay Manjrekar, mainstay of the Indian batting in the late '80s and early '90s, was talking to H Natarajan

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