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Mental block

While the Indians may feel that the cricketing gods have turned against them, they must not blame bad luck for their disappointing results, but look within themselves.

Sure, the run of the ball and perhaps even umpiring decisions haven't been in their favour, but that is the way it always seems when the opposition is playing with great flair and confidence, and you are battling. India have had their chances in both Tests but haven't maintained the pressure or shown the skills to bowl Australia out for a reasonable score.

At 197 for 5 on day 1, India had the opportunity to keep the Australians down to 250 or 260. While Kumble may well have caught and bowled Gilchrist when the latter had only a few runs on the board, the Indians reacted poorly to the decision, eased the pressure, and thus allowed Australia back into the game.

At this stage, the pitch was still offering assistance to the bowlers and if the Indians had kept their cool I am sure they would have still bowled Australia for a reasonable total and given themselves a chance of victory.

As it was, they never got back in the game and their batsmen had an uphill battle. If India are to redeem some credibility out of this series they must make a more concerted effort to maintain concentrated aggression. This doesn't mean trying to hit the cover off the ball, but maintaining mental aggression so that you can take full advantage of every delivery.

It seemed when India batted, Australia had 20 fieldsmen -- so often was the ball hit straight to them. This is significant because Indian batsmen in general, and Tendulkar in particular have been renowned for finding the gaps. Because the Indians were concentrating so hard on their defence, they were late into their shots and invariably the ball sliced off the bat straight to the fielder. As a result, the pressure mounted and the batsmen were forced into errors. No attempt was made to change the pace of their strokes or to rotate the strike to ease the pressure.

Sachin Tendulkar showed great skill, but it was a very subdued Sachin for most of his innings. I felt an empathy with him for when I was captain of Australia, we did not have a strong batting line up, and it was easy to feel that if I got out a collapse would follow. I am sure Sachin felt the same way and this restricted his normal free flowing style.

It is now up to the experienced Indian batsmen namely, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid to stand up and be counted and lead the way with some commanding batting. They have the talent and experience and must cast aside their inhibitions in order to inspire the younger batsmen.

The Indian bowlers, too, did half a job. They showed they have the ability to bowl Australia out, but they must show greater perseverance and concentration. Agarkar has impressed me greatly with his pace and swing. I have been delighted with the maturity he has shown and his ability to swing the ball and maintain his pace has been superb. He has worked hard on his action and it is now much sounder. Srinath has had some great spells, but hasn't been able to complete the job after causing early collapses.

All said and done, India didn't have it easy in the second Test because the Australian bowling and fielding was quite extraordinary. Undoubtedly, they are the best all round team in the world. Brett Lee made a fantastic start to his career. He was very quick and very accurate and looks to be a great prospect. Australia is on a brilliant roll at present and have the confidence and courage to recover from any situation, however tricky.

(Gameplan)

Bobby Simpson