For India, any combination seems to be a losing proposition

The inescapable conclusion to be drawn from the first Test is that India will be lucky to get away with even one draw in the three match series. India have never suffered a clean sweep in a series of at least three Tests in this country. They have lost a three Test series 2-0 more than once and have lost a five Test series 3-0. But never have they looked more vulnerable to losing all matches in a home series than at this juncture. True, only last year, India had gone down to South Africa in three days at the same venue. But in that game, India had taken the first innings lead and had visions of victory before they went down narrowly by four wickets. This time India were a beaten side almost from the time Steve Waugh put them in on the opening day. Incidentally, for the only other time India have lost in three days at home, one has to go back to January 1952 when England won by eight wickets at Kanpur.

Make no mistake. Not only is this a well oiled, thoroughly professional Australian team but at the same time it must be said that they are up against an Indian side that is sadly lacking in temperament, technical qualities and fighting skills. It is difficult to imagine when last an Indian team at home were so outplayed in batting, bowling and fielding - not to mention captaincy. Significantly, Steve Waugh has gone on record as saying that the Indians need not expect the Australians to pull their punches in the remaining two Tests. "Psychologically, this is a very significant victory," said Waugh. The Australian captain, a master strategist on and off the field, knows the importance of winning the first Test of any series, particularly during a tour on which the visitors hope to pull off something that they have not done in 31 years - a series victory in India. Given this background, there is no way the Australians will take the foot off the accelerator pedal. They will ende avour to keep on rolling. Sixteen today, seventeen tomorrow and eighteen by the end of the series is their obvious short term goal. And they still have a long term goal - the world record of playing 27 Test matches without defeat held by the West Indian team of the 80s.

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly was reportedly furious with the Indian media for failing to support the home team. Basically all that the writers said was that the Australians were the stronger team and were favourites to win the series. Is there anything wrong in stating something very obvious? The media can hardly be expected to instal the Indians as favourites or say that they are the stronger team when, on any given evidence, they are not. It is time Ganguly accepted the fact that the Indians are up against a formidable unit instead of trying to find excuses.

On the eve of the match, there was much discussion about the composition of the Indian team. Will it be six batsmen and four bowlers or five batsmen and five bowlers? Will they field two spinners or three? Will they take only one medium pacer in Javagal Srinath or two? In retrospect, all this would now seem to be little more than meaningless chatter. Let's be clear on this point. Whatever combination the Indian think tank decided on, the Australians would have simply steamrolled past the hosts. The opinion poll on this site clearly illustrates this. Asked to spell out the reasons for India's swift capitulation, nearly half of those who voted (almost 46 percent) agree that the result came about because of the overwhelming superiority of the Australians and not because of unimaginative captaincy, irresponsible batting or going in with a spin bowler short.

It is indeed an unenviable situation that the selectors face in putting together a team capable of halting the Aussie juggernaut. What are the changes they can possibly go for? The batting is unstable with too much hinging on the `big three' coming good. About the bowling, the less said the better. The best the Indians can hope for is a draw and that can come about only if the batting comes through - by which I mean a couple of big hundreds at least. But from what one saw in Mumbai, the batting, under the relentless pressure applied by shrewd leadership and a bowling attack that is both accurate and penetrative, is bound to crumble. The selectors will no doubt keep trying by ringing in the changes. But against this ruthless Aussie side, it would be like trying to bring down the Red Fort with pea-shooters.