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That last week of mediocrity
After playing above themselves during the drawn Test series against Australia, India were unable to sustain their high standards in the first week of February.
India's tour of Australia, which started in the last week of November 2003 had been one to savour for hard-core fans and neutrals alike.
But after playing above themselves during the drawn Test series, India were unable to sustain their high standards in the first week of February and the wheels fell off in spectacular fashion.
Sourav Ganguly's men started the VB Series very much on par with the world champions. After narrowly missing out on a victory in Melbourne, they came back strongly to out-bat Australia in Brisbane and Sydney — though still losing at the SCG to the D/L method.
And then came the capitulation on a bouncy track in Perth. As Ricky Ponting put it, the Indians seemed to have "run out of puff", their focus had shifted towards home and the all improtant tour of Pakistan.
With one-day cricket unforgiving, and Australia the champions of it, India were never presented a single opportunity to wake-up and bounce back.
