Our heads hang in shame

Australia marched home today to their 15th consecutive Test victory after soundly thrashing India in the Boxing Day test at Melbourne. The much-anticipated and hyped duel petered out to a no-contest as the rampaging Aussies handed the touring Indians a swift fall from grace on the back of the visitors' first series win against Pakistan at home in 27 long years.

India's much vaunted batting lineup folded up for less than 200 in both innings as a good show by the bowlers went in vain. In a match in which they were competitive for all of 1 day, the Indians would do well to realize that once you've got the Aussies on the mat, you've got to keep 'em there, no matter what.

However that didn't happen as the advantage was surrendered with a poor batting display: the Dravids, the Laxmans, the Tendulkars, the Gangulys and the Dhonis managing all of 196 and 161 among themselves...surely, they could do better.
The curious Rahul Dravid saga gets murkier by the moment....appointed captain after then coach Greg Chappell's huge public showdown with you-know-who, accused of playing into the very same wily old coach's hands, leading the side on a forgettable World Cup campaign, controversially resigning after the successful England tour, being axed from the one day side and now being thrust into the opener's slot to do the dirty work of wearing out the brand new Kookaburra so that the others can work on their averages while smacking the thing to all parts of the ground.
What the team management has to realize is that the opening position is a specialist one...you might have a few successes with the odd makeshift opener (read Dinesh Kaarthick in England ) but that will not save you from trouble against better sides in the world. So while Dravid, the gentleman that he is, may agree to bat wherever the team wants him to, playing makeshift openers against Australia won't get them too far I'm afraid. Rahul is best suited for the no.3 slot and it's no secret. So to play him upfront, just so that Yuvraj can get into the side is sheer myopia, nothing else.

And probably the most bemusing aspect of this opening dilemna is that man called Virender Sehwag. Picture this: the man doesn't figure in the 24 probables list, then mysteriously gets called up for the tour in the 16 man squad, is one of the three genuine openers in the squad : Wasim Jaffer (the regular) and Gautam Gambhir (injured ) being the other two, doesn't play the warm up tie, ditto for the first test as he cools his heels in the dressing room while the others face the heat: both on and off the field ! I wonder what is he in the squad for? Just making up the numbers, presumably. Well good for him...there won't be any skin off his back while the rest will have tough questions to face ! Maybe all that's missing now is maa-ke-haath-ki kheer!

And so as we look forward to the New Year's test at Sydney, it begs the question: will India rise from the Ashes like the Phoenix did, or will it once again pummel to even greater depths ?
I, for one, hope it's the former and not the latter.