The battle is lost, not the war

So not for the first time India lost a match they should have put away by some distance. And as such their morale would have taken a fair knock. But they have to pick up the pieces quickly if they are to make a dent on a ruthless Aussie side suitably chastened by a defeat in the pipe opener.

The Indians will take solace from the manner in which they fought back spiritedly after posting an unremarkable total. Although Srinath struggled with his length early on, the bowling showed bite and verve that was sorely lacking in the Tests - except for the small matter of allowing two tailenders to hit 43 from 37 balls.

In the end it came down to a run out miss from the captain in the last over. Rarely have the Indians hit the stumps in crunch situations and that is one aspect they have to sedulously work on if they have ambitions of finishing higher than third in this tournament. The team also did not seem to have put their heads together during the long break before the final delivery. Sameer Dighe should have stood a few paces closer to the stumps (Prasad not being known to possess a faster ball). Or else, standing at his normal position, he would have done better to throw at the bowlers end since Younis was off the blocks like a startled rabbit as could be expected of any non striker. Younis was too canny though to do a Salim Jaffer.

Laxman struggled against the new ball which repeatedly found the edge of his bat only to fall short of the slip cordon. Looking forward to tomorrow's game, it is of immense significance that Tendulkar return to the top of the order because of the impetus provided by him upfront and the confidence that his presence inspires in Saurav Ganguly who was unusually subdued yesterday. Indeed the protection that is afforded to Tendulkar by pushing him down the order portrays a defeatist mentality. The subtle message conveyed to the rest of the team is that if Sachin goes early, you guys are not good enough to complete the job.

Despite the 3-0 hiding that preceded the Carlton & United series, the very nature of the shortened version of the game shortens the odds on an Indian win as compared to the Test series. One loss has not altered the state of the points table substantially, only the players' state of mind, and they have to summon up all their reserves of self belief for the testing battles to follow.