It wasn't a surprise that India muffed their big test once again, but the question needs to be asked nevertheless. In one-day finals since November 1998 their record is 0-9, and you can't help wondering why India's best reserve their worst for the big match. Why do they come up short when the occasion requires nothing less than outstanding? Why do they freeze when the moment demands that they unleash their full brilliance? Is it stagefright? Or is it just a case of the law of averages catching up at the wrong time?

Between them, in one-day internationals Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly have amassed 18,827 runs with 49 centuries, 94 fifties and 16 century partnerships. But the sum total of their contribution to India's miserable run in the last nine finals is a paltry 359 runs with a combined average of 25.64.

In many ways, this final ran along expected lines. South Africa were as magnificent as India were wretched. On an average day, the gap between the sides is considerable; today it was unbridgeable. Lance Klusener dropped a catch at slip, as is customary for him, but South Africa did everything else right. The Indian surrender was familiar, inevitable and horribly depressing. They batted below par, bowled without fire and fielded miserably. And they didn't deserve any luck.

The toss was supposed to be crucial, but as it turned out, it hardly mattered. Ganguly called incorrectly but got what he wanted. The wicket was meant for bowling first, but the amount of faith India have in their ability to chase a target means that they dare not bowl first, even on a helpful pitch. Shaun Pollock, with six pace bowlers at his disposal, had no hesitation in inserting India. The pitch was the most difficult of the tournament so far, but it wasn't the typical Durban flyer that everyone expected. Overnight rain had left plenty of moisture under the surface, and though there was ample bounce, it was a tennis ball kind of spongy bounce. There was pace, but not the sort of consistent pace batsmen could trust. The ball stopped every once in a while, and made the batsmen wary of driving on the up.

It was that kind of a ball from Nantie Hayward that got Tendulkar: short, rising and outside the off stump, a ball Tendulkar would have put away seven times out of ten - but it held up, Tendulkar was early into his shot, the ball caught the bottom inside-edge of his horizontal bat and crashed into his off stump.

The all-pace South African attack bowled to a script. The quick men, Hayward and Makhaya Ntini, were furiously, relentlessly aggressive. They bent their backs, pitched it just short of length and made sure that the Indian batsmen were consistently playing in front of their noses. Pollock, as usual, was guileful and stingy. Lance Klusener, the slowest of them all, started with a slower ball and kept the Indians guessing with cunning variations of pace and length. Justin Kemp came on to bowl when the Indians were already on their knees and ensured that they stayed there.

The Indian capitulation was predictable after Tendulkar and Ganguly departed. Rahul Dravid hung in for a quite a while, but he will never be the batsman who will win India a match. Virender Sehwag, increasingly looking India's next best batsman, sparkled briefly, but the rest were hopeless. Not for the first time, V V S Laxman conjured up his own dismissal with a neither-here-nor-there shot that had no future, and for the third time in the tournament, Yuvraj Singh got his feet moving only after he had been dismissed. Yuvraj has scored three runs in his last three innings and has punctured the logic of not playing a specialist keeper. Deep Dasgupta could have done no worse.

India did not have the bowlers to exploit the conditions. They had two pace bowlers on the bench, but they had to play their best bowlers even if it meant playing two spinners. On a pitch that had nothing for them, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh were the pick of India's bowlers once again. But their batsmen had given them hardly anything to bowl at.

India should consider something drastic before their next final. A walkover perhaps.

Sambit Bal is the editor of Wisden.com India

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