Australia series - India lose 6th overseas test in a row

9.5 to 2.5. The session dashboard conveys a story that was grim for the Indian test team and its fans. There was hardly any session that the Australian team was tested to the potential that the Indian team had on paper. Right from the first innings on the first day, the match went downhill for the team.

The runs scored in the series by both teams reveal the true picture as shown below. Though the number of runs scored by the openers (thanks to Gambhir's second innings at SCG), bowlers (Ashwin being the main contributor), wicket-keeper (Haddin's dismal form continued), the difference of runs scored by both teams show the main reason why India is two tests down. Though the gulf of difference is because of Clarke's triple ton, the others like Ricky Ponting and Hussey have not been far behind.

VVS Laxman seems to have lost his Midas touch (is there something to do with his spiritual mentor Sai Baba's death?). Sachin Tendulkar has been drowned in the hype surrounding the Super Century (there is no other reason to be blamed for his failures to score a big ton). Rahul Dravid's defiance has been breached not once but repeatedly - putting a big question mark in his mind about his defence. Gambhir has retained his touch but will it continue in the remaining tests? Virat Kohli seems to have lost his spot to Rohit Sharma after two non-performances once again.

Number of runs scored in the series

The wickets taken in the series also reflect a similar trend for the Aussies - agreed that the Australian team has played only one innings compared to the two by India. The pace bowlers have made use of the helpful conditions they were provided (obviously luck played its role at SCG) to grab the wickets. The Indians have been found lacking here as well, despite doing well in the first test (again with conditions helping them). Ashwin has won the battle for spin against Lyon in this series but that does not amount to much in the series. Ishant has been bowling without taking any wickets, putting pressure on the others. Umesh has been lacking ideas when the pitch was not helping the Indians while Zaheer was off-color for the time the bat dominated the Indians on the 2nd and 3rd day.

Wickets taken in the test series