@varunsaxena.. thats what i meant that indian players struggle outside the sub-continent..similarly aussies struggle in sub-continental conditions too..but instead of accepting the fact that they didnt play well, most of the ex cricketers start questioning the pitches..is that really needed?? you mentioned about aussies who scored double and triple hundreds in australia in australia..point taken..but in india none of them,barring clark got a century..where as dhoni,pujara scored double hundreds, dhawan and m.vijay scored 150+ runs..so what about this then? indians too played on the same pitches and got 500+ runs(that too after losing the toss and batiting 2nd remember)..but australia struggled to cross even 300 on regular basis.. so the irony is, whatever the pitch may be, adaptability is important ! either its india,Aus, SL,SA,Pak whatever..but DONT TALK about PITCHES PLEASE !!

Australian pitches don't change? Bah! What a joke. When South Africa went to Australia few months ago, there were mostly flat tracks. When SL visited a few weeks later, they were all bowling tracks. Give me a break, please! Let me also say this from a SL point of view: If you look at the wickets made for domestic cricket, they are all spinning tracks, where most matches end within three days. For international games, the wickets are far more sporting and friendly to visiting teams. Match that Australia, if you can.

Sharda Ugra does not know about pitch preparation. Why comment wthout knowledge? Questions for both Sharda and Harsha: 1. Is India's 4-0 victory at home any less than SA 4-0 victory at home in 1969? 2. Doesn't the pitch affect both sides equally? 3. Didn't Australia win 4 tosses and get the best batting conditions whenever they batted first? (3 times) 4. How could India's batsmen get runs while Australia's couldn't? 5. What was yr point Sharda when you mentioned the bounce variation in just one over? 6. Didn't Rajesh point out the statistical similarity in Australian batting in this series and in Bill Lawry's series? In fact didn't the Aussies actually average 4 runs more in this series? 7. Why wasn't there much talk about pitches when England played just a couple of months back? 8. Do you think you can be less skeptical about this resounding comeback? 9. Can you live in the present? Nobody knows what the future will bring, so why demean the present success?

I think the point Sharda is making is that Indians have started creating pitches (dry, crumbling) that were usually saved for escape acts. That is a fine point. It is the duty of cricket administrators to prepare sporting pitches for sporting matches. I do think Aussies were put at a disadvantage in this series and coupled with the fact that its a side in some serious transition - 4-0 is a realistic result. Dhoni is a good captain, but not sure what he meant by the era of attacking fields. It just doesn't make sense. You have gotta attack, put the batsmen under serious pressure to create real Test match like situation. Although one can say that you also need serious strike bowlers to set up attacking fields.

@Umakant : Yes pitches in Aus were fast, bouncy,seeming and swinging remarkably. That's why Australian batsmen were scoring triple hundereds, double hundereds at will. Even Ponting who looked out of form everytime on either side of Series against India, scored load of runs. The fact is that in Aus, new ball seams around for first 20-25 overs and then as the ball becomes old, for next 60 overs, pitch is as good as flat. This is the character of Australian pitches no matter who they play against. The pitches were not doctored. That is why Ashwin scored well for a number 8 in Australia.Problem with India in that series was that they were 4-5 down by the time 25 overs passed hence they couldn't score more than 300.Even in Melbourne where India were 200 odd for 2, they lost all their wickets against 2nd new ball...It is inability of Indian batsmen to play fast bowling if it moves even a little bit which lost India the series.

I am a great fan of Sachin Tendulkar. And so I feel that he has got nothing more to prove to anybody. For all I know, he could end up making a century or two if he went to Soth Africa. But he will do a great service to Indian Cricket if he lets a youngster go to S.A.

The attitude of some Indian fans is just ridiculous. Their team has done something that no other team had been able to in almost half a century i.e beat Aus 4-0 in a four match series, and they are belittling this huge success themselves by talking about pitches, weak opposition and flukes..? Learn something from Eng fans who treat even a 2-1 victory on home conditions against any team a huge achievement.

@ Umakanth & Carlvon, did you listen to the piece or just read it? Even Harsha & Sahrda commented that the pitches were different to how they usually are. Not watering the edges of the pitch to assist your own bowlers while watering the middle to hamper your opposition seems to me to be very unsporting.

my team for after sachin: Vijay Dhawan Pujara Kohli rahane rohit/jadeja Dhoni Ashwin Buvuneshwar Yadav Aaron Subs: Unmukt(middle order batter) Jiwanjot singh harmeet singh/Ojha/parveez rasool

Why talk about pitches Now??? its ridiculous to talk about pitches after a series where australia looked completely out of sorts. Don't forget, not so long ago, england came here ,played on the same wickets and won the series comprehensively..so Fellas ! its the skill and performance that matters . Not who has cooked up what pitch.. if you are looking at pitches then why weren't the same questions raised when IND lost in australia 0-4?? the picthes were fast, bouncy,seeming and swinging remarkably. why didn't any one raise these questions???? we give everybody a chance to speak about indian pitches by asking them their opinion..but is it necessary that how the pitch are made is to be questioned?? if india struggled in foreign conditions then the Aussies too struggled here..aussies didnt play well enough. for any side, its very important to do well in foreign soil..if you dont do well ,then dont blame the pitches atleast..