India go into the fourth and final Test against Australia here on Wednesday with their pride badly bruised, their cricket in shambles and their once-inspirational captain again unfit to play.
The hosts' hopes of salvaging their reputation against the rampaging Australians suffered a setback on Monday when skipper Sourav Ganguly was ruled out after failing to recover from a groin injury.
The news came at the wrong time for India, making a last-ditch attempt to restore their fortunes after losing the first home Test series against Australia in 35 years.
They surrendered the opening Test by 217 runs before collapsing to their biggest defeat yet by 342 runs in the third Test at Nagpur. The second was drawn at Chennai.
India face a tall order in the final match against a disciplined and determined Australia.
Australian vice-captain Adam Gilchrist has already warned that his team were in no mood to relax their grip over beleaguered India.