Just as a win abroad is sweeter than a victory in your backyard, a loss at home is always more painful than one suffered overseas. Historically, India have been hard to beat at home, so it was all the more difficult to digest the loss to Australia.
A lot has been said and written about the way we played and lost. Let's face it. We batted badly and paid the penalty. There is no running away from the fact that our batting has not come to terms with itself over the past three months. If my boys have lapped up the accolades during our tour of Australia and Pakistan, they should also be prepared to take the criticism now. After all, success and failure are two sides of the same coin.
Talking about the coin, I must say that it has not fallen my way in recent times. The loss of the toss is not an excuse for our poor show but Adam Gilchrist did his team a huge favour by calling correctly in Bangalore. Looking back at that game, I am convinced that the last session on the very first day of the match decisively turned the game Australia's way.
Much of the credit should go to Michael Clarke and Gilchrist for batting the way they did. Clarke impressed with his temperament and the way he played on his debut. He is clearly a star in the making, but I think Gilchrist's knock was most crucial. Not only does he score runs, he gets them quickly. The Gilchrist-Clarke partnership did the trick for Australia.
