The boot is on the other foot
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
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Apparently, Warren Buffett is buying equities. Whether the "Sage of Omaha" would be game enough to buy shares in this Australian side is anyone's guess, writes Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald. However, the futures prospects of the Indian team don't seem as bleak, at least for the next Test in Delhi.
Everyone is going to fancy a piece of them. Trouncing the Aussies did not look that hard. Previously, it has taken towering performances to bring them down. England took three years to prepare for the 2005 Ashes and another three to recover. Even so, Glenn McGrath did not play in a losing side in that series India won in 2001 but Shane Warne was half-fit besides while Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman built a miraculous partnership, and some of the umpiring at Eden Gardens was dodgy.
Now the boot is on the other foot. Now the heavyweights are in the opposing camp. Virender Sehwag did not appear in any of the defeats in the recent series Down Under. Nor did his opening partner Gautam Gambhir. The conclusion is unavoidable. When both sides are a full strength, and all other things being equal, India have the edge. And, on the evidence seen in Mohali, not only India. Australia had nothing to grizzle about, not homemade pitches or dubious decisions or queasy stomachs or absentees. Ricky Ponting and his players were beaten fair and square, and by the length of the straight
How will the team's performance affect viewership figures in Australia? Philip Derriman finds out.
Mathew Varghese is sub-editor (stats) at Cricinfo