With the exception of cantankerous old men tormented by jealousy and blinded by nostalgia, most of us recognise that we live in a golden age of spin bowling

Omar Henry was nearly 41 when he made his Test debut against India at Durban in 1992-93, after representing South Africa in a few rebel Tests in the mid-1980s

With the series at stake, South Africa's bowlers summoned up reserves of grit and discipline that they have often lacked in recent forays abroad

The Baroda firm of Zaheer and Pathan can revive the legacy of fast bowling in India

A great innings can often be compared to a magnificent edifice, with runs the building blocks and slices of luck the thin lines of cement

South Africa will undoubtedly leave Green Park the happier of the two sides after a mind-numbingly tedious game illuminated only by the incandescence of Virender Sehwag's strokeplay

This has been a Test match of two pitches - one for Virender Sehwag, and one for everybody else

As the day wore on, you wondered whether it would have made the slightest bit of difference if right-wing vandals - who desecrated the Wankhede Stadium pitch in 1999 to kill off hopes of an India-Pakistan Test being played there - and their pick-axes

After a summer and autumn of discontent, India's cricket team can put their feet up this evening, safe in the knowledge that the opening-batting conundrum appears to be nearer a solution - on placid home pitches at least

Guileful slow bowling and attractive shotmaking have been the leitmotifs of Indian cricket since the halcyon days of Palwankar Baloo and CK Nayudu, but there have been times when the adherence to tradition has prevented the national side from

India just couldn't cope in a contest that never quite lived up to its exalted billing as Australia won on all counts

Australia's mighty batting line-up capitulated for just 93 in the face of some magnificent bowling from Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik, as India pulled off a scarcely credible 13-run victory in the final Test at the Wankhede Stadium

On a pitch where strokeplay was difficult and survival was an achievement, Australia eked out a 99-run lead after dismissing India for 104 at the Wankhede Stadium

On a day blighted by unseasonal and intermittent drizzle, India struggled to 22 for 2 in the 11 overs possible after Rahul Dravid had won the toss and elected to bat

The strength of character that India showed in Australia, and then again in Pakistan, proved to be as fleeting as winter sunshine

As Australian cricket soaked up its finest hour in India since the days of the moon landings, Adam Gilchrist, the stand-in captain, didn't forget Stephen Waugh, who "had shown the way"

Truman Capote once wrote, "Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavour", and when Australia's cricketers savour a series victory in the land of spices, as appears inevitable now, many minds will hark back to the misadventures of 2001 that

John Buchanan is not a complacent man, not after what happened to Australia on their last tour here

The Verdict

The Verdict