Will India keep Australia from completing last rites?

From an Indian perspective the venue for the last test couldn't have been better to conclude what was touted as India's best chance to win a test series Down Under against a depleted Australian side. India have fond memories at Adelaide. It was here only in 2003-04 when Dravid was at his sublime best and took India home with a gritty fifty in the all important fourth innings. Not to forget his double hundred in the second innings and Agarkar's inspired bowling effort in the third which set up the match for India.Those distinguished efforts saw India take a lead of 1-0 against a more powerful Australian team.

In 2012 though, the scenario is antipodean. India are down 3-0 and not as much as the fact that they have lost all the matches so far is agonizing but the manner in which they have is. With each test match the duration of the game has only become shorter and the Australian conditions have only exposed the frailty of Indian batsmen. But conditions at Adelaide are likely to give some respite to them. The pitch is ideally suited for batsmen and favours the spin bowlers as well with a little something always for the fast bowlers thus offering every individual playing the game a chance to contribute. Also, it is the same pitch where Australia lost to England on the fifth day in the Ashes last year. 

India should feel at home at Adelaide

All India need is for the batsmen to break the shackles, get over the past and start afresh. The bowling is not as much of a concern since the likes of Zaheer and Yadav have done reasonably well. Zaheer has been unlucky though not to have picked as many wickets as he deserved but his effort like always has been above par while Yadav in many ways has been the find of this tour. It remains to be seen whether India can avert the dangers of yet another whitewash, but in the absence of the regular captain MSD the onus of an inspired fightback will definitely be on Sehwag not only as an opener but also as the leader of a dispirited Team India.  

The Curious Case of Indian Batsmen!

Not until too long ago, the Indian Test Team boasted of arguably the world's best batting lineup with the likes of Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar & Laxman expected to be good enough anywhere against any bowling attack. Much to the chagrin of the fans of this star studded batting unit all it took was a difficult than expected West Indies tour and more significantly flustering tour of England to come to terms with reality which mirrored the needless rodomontading of their performances at home resulting in heightened expectations from them on tours outside the sub-continent.

The legacies of the Goliaths need to be preserved!

It's important that a batsman is technically sound to be able to adapt better in England, Australia or anywhere else in the world where the wickets are conducive for adept swing bowlers. Barring Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman the required competency seems far from present in the current Indian batsmen who have all but looked at ease in bowler friendly conditions. Safely ensconced in the overdependence on the stalwarts have been their technical incompetency for all these years and as we get closer to a transition similar to the one Australia is going through, the big picture looks only darker.

Sure, when it comes to records each one of those batsmen have quite a few to their name but then records alone don't represent the true picture and definitely don't win matches. The results speak for themselves, only in 3 out of the last 18 innings outside India have the batsmen managed to post 300.

For years we have mourned over the dead pitches and never witnessed a Test series in India where batsmen have had to be distinctively technically skilled to pile runs. This is where the crux of the issue is! The focus here is more on amassing runs rather than the manner in which to score them. This leads to records being made by the batsmen at the expense of sometimes the sheer basics of batting which comes in their way of thorough adaptation overseas. 

If the legacies of the BIG 3 of Indian Cricket have to be kept intact, a roadmap needs to be charted out to groom the plethora of talented batsmen.