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You have to go back almost four decades, to the Christmas Test at Chepauk in 1969, to find a game in which two Indian offspinners made such a dramatic impact. Erapalli Prasanna took 10 and Srinivas Venkataraghavan six in a game that lasted less than four days. Unfortunately for India, Australia had a handy offspinner of their own in Ashley Mallett and his 10 for 144, superbly supported by the tireless Graham McKenzie, inspired a famous 77-run victory that clinched the series.

Monstrous egos tilt it India's way

On the eve of this Test, an article in South Africa's version of The Times stated that "the Indian team is famous for being a collection of monstrous egos sloshing about in great vats of self-importance". It was a strange assertion to make, especially for a journalist that I've never met on a cricket tour. In fact, I'd be very surprised if he had ever come across Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman or Kumble, men whose humility and dedication to the game has kept them near the top for so very long.

South Africa shade opening exchanges

For the second Test match in succession, the team batting first was bowled out on the opening day, but the fact that South Africa lasted 67.3 overs longer than India managed in Ahmedabad meant that they ended the day in control of what could be another abbreviated Test. A total of 265 might seem below-par for Indian conditions, but this is no standard-issue flatbed, and India's batsmen will be relentlessly tested by a pace attack that will be even more menacing on a wearing surface.

India could slip through the cracks

Desperate to square a series that they thought they would win comfortably enough, India have taken an almighty gamble with the Green Park pitch. It's dehydratingly hot in Kanpur and the surface already looks like something from a documentary on drought-hit regions. Large cracks criss-cross the surface, and with very little watering, it remains to be seen how long it will hold together. The chances of another three-day finish a la Ahmedabad certainly can't be ruled out.

Where did the pride go?

There have been some wretched Indian performances on my watch - the 54 all out in a Sharjah final against Sri Lanka [2000] quickly comes to mind - but this was possibly the most inept, and that too in a series that has far more at stake than just a random ODI bauble. Normally, a result inside three days suggests either a minefield of a pitch or a mismatch of Australia-Zimbabwe proportions. As AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis proved in emphatic fashion on Friday, there was nothing diabolical about the pitch, but the huge gulf in class should both shame and worry an Indian team that had begun to think above its station.

India should forget blame game

At the end of the opening day's play at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad, Roshan Mahanama, the match referee, pulled up Jacques Kallis for violating the spirit of cricket. The mean-spirited Kallis had brought the game into disrepute by having the temerity to bat for 124 balls on a 'green top' where he was supposed to run up the white flag of surrender, as thrillingly demonstrated by India in 109 minutes of pure entertainment in the morning. Instead of following that shining example, Kallis and co-accused, AB de Villiers, eked out 106 runs in 34.1 overs in the final session, with utter disregard for Twenty20 principles and techniques.

Indian spin against Protea pace

After the designer turners that underpinned India's home success in the 1990s, three spinners in the playing XI has been a rarity. There has been the odd occasion, like Mumbai [2004] and Mohali [2006], but by and large India have opted for more balanced attacks in this decade.

The current injury crisis though has left them with little option but to go the spin-trident route. Zaheer Khan is out for the full series, while Ishant Sharma is unlikely to play a part even in Kanpurl. RP Singh was a disaster in terms of both fitness and form at Chennai, and Munaf Patel keeps dropping off the radar.

The ban on Shoaib is an outrage

The Pakistan Cricket Board's decision to ban Shoaib Akhtar for five years is yet another step on what has been a long and winding road to oblivion. Once one of the top drawcards in the game - no other team stretched the West Indies at much as they did when the men from the Caribbean were at their peak - the Pakistanis are now in danger of becoming a sideshow, with hardly any proper cricket on the itinerary for the next two years. On top of that, they've just decided to dispense with one of the few potent pace bowlers they have, a man who also happens to be a maverick and entertainer from the old Pakistani school.

Crime and punishment

Unseasonal rains may have provided the Chepauk curator with an excuse, but any more pitches like this and we may as well bring out the coffin for Test cricket in India. If crowds are anything to go by, it perished in Pakistan years ago, and rigor mortis will soon set in elsewhere in the subcontinent as well.

Despite the fact that India's best results these days come on sporting pitches, the tradition of lifeless flatbeds continues to plague Test matches in India. Chennai once used to be an honourable exception, producing fantastic Test matches in 1999 [Pakistan], 2001 [Australia] and 2004 [when the final day against Australia was washed out].

The cavalier's second coming

With the exception of a couple that were watched on television, I've been fortunate to watch all of Virender Sehwag's 14 centuries inside the stadiums that his strokeplay set alight. And despite all the hyperbole tonight, I can safely say that this wasn't his best.

The bat-a-thon continues

At times on a second day when 318 runs were scored, you could almost imagine that the game was being played out on the East Coast Road up just up the coast, such was the nature of the pitch. The six wickets that India picked up, four of them in a rush after tea as South Africa went for quick runs, should fool no one.

At no stage was there a genuine contest between bat and ball, with even stalwarts like Anil Kumble and the exciting Dale Steyn being treated with scant respect by batsmen who could afford to plonk the front foot forward and drive through the line. When some of the best bowlers in the game are made to look like second-rate trundlers, it's probably time for those that sanction these type of pitches to do a bit of soul-searching.

The English itinerary is a disgrace

Two Tests and seven one-day internationals. Seven one-day games against England? What a waste of time. The Indian board has conveniently blamed the FTP for there being only two Tests, but it begs the question: Why on Earth do we need seven ODIs?

Game on as McKenzie steals the show

If the opening day at Chepauk proved anything, it was that this series is going to be a long, hard slog in intense summer heat. South Africa may not be as formidable as Australia, but they have a doggedness and steel about them that suggests these three Tests will be every bit as evenly contested as the ones played out in the southern Cape 15 months ago.

The two bridesmaids go head to head

For me, Chennai has always been the premier Test venue in India. Eden Gardens is bigger and more imposing, but over the past few decades, the failure of the fans to keep a lid on their emotions - firestarting, booing national icons and the whole team on one occasion - has seen it slip down the pecking order. Chepauk has the history [Douglas Jardine last captained England here], and also a crowd steeped in the traditions of the five-day game.

The politics of race

They arrive in India ranked as the world's leading one-day side, though an Australian team with three successive World Cups and a Champions Trophy in the cabinet might justifiably pooh-pooh that status. In the Test arena, South Africa aren't as formidable a force, though victories over India, Pakistan and New Zealand at home, and Pakistan and Bangladesh away have set them up nicely for a tilt at India, currently ranked second to Australia.

Should Bangladesh play more Tests?

It took South Africa just 10.5 overs on the fourth morning to wrap up victory, but how they had to work for it. Bangladesh may have scored less than 200 in both innings, but some inspired bowling from Shahadat Hossain - who finished with match figures of 9 for 97 - ensured that there were some distinctly uncomfortable moments on the road to victory.

The Monkey and Your Mother

Justice John Hansen's judgment following Harbhajan Singh's appeal hearing in Adelaide runs to 22 pages and 8040 words. As is the case with most legal documents, it's not easy to read, but the salient points are there for anyone to come across.

First, Hansen tries to establish what led to the incident between Harbhajan and Andrew Symonds. "It is clear that Mr Lee bowled an excellent yorker to Mr Singh who was fortunate to play the ball to fine leg," he writes.

Sehwag and Lee hint at bright future

Two seats down from me in the press box, Damien Fleming kept shaking his head in amazement. "What were they thinking?" he asked. "How could they leave him out of the first two Tests?" The man he referred to had got to three figures in exhilatrating fashion, not having played any part at Melbourne and Sydney. Four years ago, Virender Sehwag clattered an astonishing 195 in five hours at the MCG, in the middle of a purple patch when he was perhaps the most feared opening batsman in the game.

Ineffectual Harbhajan needs to prove his worth

Only two bowlers in this series have a strike-rate above 100. One is Ishant Sharma, whose figures of 6 for 358 (strike-rate of 101) are ample evidence that numbers taken in isolation mean absolutely nothing. Both at the WACA in Perth and here at the Adelaide Oval, Ishant was magnificent in spells, beating the bat with pace and late swing and the steep bounce that he gets as a result of being NBA-tall.

Swansong for the great entertainer

On a day when India managed to restrict Australia to just 260 runs, and Matthew Hayden nudged and drove his way to a 30th Test century in only his 94th game, it would have taken a special player to steal the limelight. But Adam Gilchrist did just that by announcing the end of a Test career without parallel. A day after he went past Mark Boucher for the greatest number of dismissals by a wicketkeeper, Gilchrist chose to walk before he was pushed. There will be no 100th Test. Instead, the Oval will be sold out on Sunday to honour perhaps the greatest allrounder that the game has seen since Sir Garfield Sobers.

Spin twins have a batting day out

For India to have any chance of squaring the series at Adelaide, Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble were going to have to do something special. But even the most optimistic fan couldn't have expected that they'd do Australian hopes so much harm with the bat. When they came together with the score 359 for 7, Ricky Ponting must have harboured hopes of batting before lunch.

Tendulkar ton in Bradman's backyard

Sachin Tendulkar (left) contributed 37 to the final-day run chase, but it's for two magic deliveries to Damien Martyn and Steve Waugh that he's remembered when talk turns to 2003 and Rahul Dravid's Test. As at Kolkata in 2001, his role in an epic triumph was restricted to the second string on his bow. The first barely had a note played on it.

Adelaide musings

Of the 22 men that fought out an enthralling Test match four years ago, only 10 will be make their way on to the Adelaide Oval tomorrow. Some like Steve Waugh have retired, while others like Ajit Agarkar discovered that one swallow doesn't a summer make. Brad Williams went off to paint houses, while Ashish Nehra never reached the heights he scaled on a Durban night when he swung out six English batsmen and threw up a banana.

Another streak ended by Laxman magic?

Immortality will now have to be earned. Almost seven years ago in Kolkata, one Australian winning streak stopped at 16 as VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Harbhajan Singh shredded the script over the final two days. Here, an inexperienced pace attack and an unheralded lower order pushed them further and further adrift of sweet 17. There was a common thread though, batting as elegantly as ever. VVS Laxman loves playing Australia, and if India do go on and win this game, his 79 will rank far higher than most hundreds made by Indian batsmen in 76 years of Test cricket.

The champion and his cubs

Let's put things into perspective first. Australia haven't lost at the WACA to non-West Indian opposition since Richard Hadlee was in his prime in 1985-86. They've not lost a home Test since Adelaide 2003, or a match anywhere since the narrow defeat at Trent Bridge that cost them the Ashes in 2005. India have only ever won four Tests in Australia, two of them against full-strength opposition. To say that they were long shots before this WACA Test would be an understatement, but as they did at the Wanderers in December 2006, they've saved their best performance for when they were apparently down and out.

Indomitable Australia reel India in

It will rankle deeply with the Indians tonight that the advantage they had fought so hard to establish was squandered by poor strokes from three of the most experienced men in the squad. Sourav Ganguly set the tone with a slap that didn't make it past Michael Hussey at gully, and Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman followed suit with terrible miscues across the line. Dravid's heave at Andrew Symonds saw him fall seven short of a century, and he admitted afterwards that it was one of those strokes that "makes you look stupid" if it doesn't come off.

India face trial by pace

The last time India played at the WACA, Kapil Dev - in his last great series - went past 400 wickets and an 18-year-old Sachin Tendulkar scripted a century for the ages. They still lost by 300 runs, with Mike Whitney, the supposed weak link in a four-man pace attack, picking up 11 for the match. That match, like sepia-tinted photographs, belongs to another era, a time before Australian invincibility when loose-limbed fast bowlers and dashing batsmen in maroon caps still ruled the game.

A gentlemen's agreement?

The days go by, and the statements keep coming. And after looking like it was powerless in the face of the Indian board's financial might, it's the ICC's turn to make a stand today. Malcolm Speed, the CEO, is adamant that India will have to abide by the decision reached by John Hansen, the New Zealand High Court judge who will hear Harbhajan Singh's appeal.

"India have signed off on the appeals process," said Speed. "They were there when all the discussions took place. We can't have one set of rules for the India team and another set for everyone else. We will follow the process and and I hope, whatever the outcome all parties will be able to say they have had a fair hearing."

The show must go on

During the infamous Bodyline tour of 1932-33, Douglas Jardine knocked on the Australian dressing-room door to demand an apology for being abused. Bill Woodfull turned to his team poker-faced and asked: "Which one of you bastards called this bastard a bastard?" Had they been around, Mike Procter and other ICC match referees might have had a field day.

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Echoes of Bodyline

When this tour began, many nursed the fond hope that it might match the 2001 series between these sides or the 2005 Ashes. Instead, after a couple of spiteful days in Sydney, it's in danger of becoming cricket's biggest crisis since Bodyline. The BCCI's reaction to Harbhajan Singh's three-match ban on racism charges even includes the same national-pride rhetoric that came out of Australia in 1932-33 when Douglas Jardine went to work on leg theory.

Burning bridges

Status Quo may not agree, but sport at its finest has always been about building bridges. At its best, it's about an SCG crowd giving Sachin Tendulkar a standing ovation, the Anfield faithful clapping Watford off the park after an upset win, and a huge sailor from the northeast of England tucking a North Korean player under his arm after the upset victory against Italy at Ayresome Park [1966].  Over a couple of days at the SCG, that indefinable spirit which draws so many to the sporting arena, has been spat on, and both teams have been guilty. What should have been dealt with then and there has now snowballed into an issue that could dwarf the Mike Denness controversy, which also involved an Indian team.

Sweet sixteen sour for some

The touch of class after a controversy-ridden final day was provided by Anil Kumble. Even as the Australians celebrated the final wicket and a 16th consecutive Test win, Kumble, who had battled so bravely for 45, waited inside the boundary rope to shake hands with them. The umpiring bloopers that contributed to the Indian defeat will undoubtedly have repercussions, but for Kumble, there would be no compromise on the spirit of the game.

Is Australia's winning streak over?

Inclement weather and some disciplined Indian spin bowling later in the day stemmed Australia's batting tide as the Sydney Test drifted towards a draw. Given the Indian tradition of last-day collapses, nothing can be taken for granted, but for the moment, it does appear as though the streak of 16 consecutive wins under Steve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist [captained in one Test] is safe. Anil Kumble caused a frisson of excitement with two wickets in two balls late in the evening, but by then even some home fans were chanting: "Boring, boring."

Sticks and stones...

When Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds get together, things happen. The pair have created headlines for the wrong reasons before, and the latest incident could see Harbhajan serving a ban that might rule him out for the remainder of the series. Back in October, after being subjected to heckling and abuse from crowds at certain Indian centres, Symonds suggested that Harbhajan and Sreesanth were the primary instigators of sledging on the field. The Indian view was that Symonds was no angel himself, overeager to march up to the batsmen from cover to have his say.

A day for legends

At the press conference after the day's play, I asked Brett Lee where he'd put Sachin Tendulkar on a list of the batsmen he'd played against. His answer was brevity itself: "Number one," he said, without the slightest hesitation. On a day that started with one of the greats, Richie Benaud, being honoured with a bronze statue on the SCG premises (above), it was quite fitting that one of the modern masters embellished his legend on the ground where Victor Trumper and Sir Don Bradman played some of their finest innings.

Beauty and the Beast

Not since The Beauty and the Beast could you have seen two characters in more disparate roles. The elegance and class of VVS Laxman was buttressed by the sheer grit of Rahul Dravid, whose 160-ball vigil was as admirable as it was often ugly. More than six years ago, they added 376 at the Eden Gardens to turn a series on its head. Today, the partnership was 200 less, but still managed to open a window into the game and give Ricky Ponting something to think about.

Time for cricket to embrace modernity

As ripostes go, this was magnificent, with Andrew Symonds and Brad Hogg adding 173 at such a clip that they might just have taken the game away from India. But for all the spirit they showed, the Indians can't be blamed if they wonder what might have been had Steve Bucknor cut short Symonds' innings on 30, when he got the thickest of outside edges off Ishant Sharma. Australia were 193 for 6 at the time, and a close-of-play score of 376 for 7 would only have been a chimera if Symonds had departed.

Is Australian dominance bad for the game?

For a team that simply cannot afford to lose in Sydney - Greased Lightning awaits at the WACA - India's preparations for the New Year Test have been far from ideal. A damaging story in The Age about Yuvraj Singh and alleged indiscipline broke a couple of days ago, and fitness worries over Zaheer Khan and Sourav Ganguly have further muddied the thought process. There was also a brief flirtation with Virender Sehwag in the nets, but the decision to leave him out of the 13 only gives strength to the voices that ask why he was picked in the first place.

Battered after Boxing Day

Three years ago, the curator in Nagpur was accused of preparing an "Australian" pitch - it did have a smattering of grass and offer good bounce, without bearing any resemblance to the WACA of old - after the visitors cruised to the 342-run win that gave them a first series win in India since the days of Neil Armstrong's moonwalk.

India must fight the good fight

At Hobart last month, Australia set Sri Lanka 507 for victory and were given a real scare as Kumar Sangakkara played the innings of his career, a sparkling 192 where he paid scant respect to Lee, Johnson, Clark or MacGill. Sri Lanka finished 96 short, and were left to rue the fact that there would be no third Test to try and exploit the frailties that they had exposed.

Clark leads the python job

As clinical Australian bowling exposed the chinks in India's batting armour, you couldn't help but think of the geniuses in the Indian board that ratified this itinerary. It's every coach's favourite adage: Fail to prepare, and you prepare to fail. India's preparation for this mammoth task consisted of a week of acclimatisation - some players spent days sleeping off the jetlag - and one warm-up game that lasted 48 overs. It was almost as farcical as stepping into the ring with George Foreman (circa 1973) after having sparred a couple of rounds with Coco the Clown.

The Bat feeds his addiction

To say that Matthew Hayden loves the MCG is a bit like saying that Doug Walters liked his pint. In nine Tests at the greatest venue in the game, Hayden now has six centuries and his 124 on Boxing Day pushed his average up near to 80. After a circumspect start by his bullying standards, he reverted to type after lunch, going from 50 to three figures in just 46 balls.

A gripping opening round

We can only hope that the rest of the series lives up to an opening act as gripping as the first frames from The Day of the Jackal. If Boxing Day at the MCG was any indicator, this could be a terrific series between the two best sides in the game. Forget the rankings and what they say - though in this case, they tend to concur - but India against Australia has become the game's premier contest. Steve Waugh said it after his farewell Test, and the fact that India are the only team to go toe-to-toe with Australia over the past decade bears out his assessment.

Monty got a raw deal

In the days and weeks to come, when England's abysmal performance in Sri Lanka is analysed down to the bare bones, one of the likely scapegoats will be Monty Panesar, whose eight wickets cost him more than 50 apiece. Not even Monty's biggest fan could argue that he bowled well, but he was by no means the worst of an insipid bunch. And he certainly isn't the first fine spinner to struggle on Sri Lankan pitches. Logic though usually goes for a flighted toss once the bloodletting begins, and when the knives come out for Monty, people would do well to remember the words made famous by Michael Stipe and REM: "Nonsense has a welcome ring, and heroes don't come easy."

Seam-up Kumble enlivens drawn Test

The Bangalore Test was drifting to an uneventful conclusion when Anil Kumble decided to bounce Faisal Iqbal, who had made the most of fielders being in the circle to stroke a brisk half-century. Faisal responded with the pull, but was in a horrible position to play it. The top edge looped to mid-on where Ishant Sharma made no mistake. As Faisal trudged off, the scoreboard read 144 for 4. Pakistan were never going to get the 374 needed from 48 overs, but with just over 16 overs to be bowled, there appeared to be no immediate danger of defeat.

Yousuf loses his rag, and a familiar rescue act

So, another Test appears to be going the Kolkata route, though the pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadium could yet have a few surprises in store. The odd ball is shooting through, and batting in the third and fourth innings could almost be as difficult as it was at Mumbai in 2004, when the two strongest batting line-ups in the world lasted less than three days.

The Yo-Yo effect keeps India at bay

The gulf between the two sides during the current series can largely be attributed to one thing - the failure of Pakistan's big boys to come out and play. They were left to rely on Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal for first-innings safety, but once Munaf Patel produced a magnificent cutter to dismiss Misbah soon after lunch on the final day, the two Ys had no place to hide. As it turned out, they had no intention of doing so, and a sprightly 136-run partnership ensured safety and a draw long before Anil Kumble strode up to shake Younis Khan's hand.

An Indian win, a draw or a fairytale?

Scenario one: Given how slowly the pitch has played for four days, the smart man would put his money on the meandering draw, but an Indian win can't be completely ruled out just yet. If they can come out and clatter some quick runs as they did against Australia on the final day in 2001, it will leave Pakistan with around 75 minutes to negotiate before lunch, and a total of around 80 overs to survive. The pitch is hardly vicious, but the odd ball is taking off from the rough, and some batsmen may be undone by confusion - whether to play freely, or go into defensive, match-saving mode.

England have learnt nothing from Australia

Some things, it seems, never change, and one of cricket's great certainties is that Muttiah Muralitharan will bowl a game-changing spell on his home pitch in Kandy. The venue might not always have been kind to Sri Lanka, but Murali's record there is spellbinding. And after a confident start, England's batsmen were the latest to be snared by his wiles.

Batsmen forever at Eden

Indian fans could be forgiven a few jitters when they look at the scorecard at the close of day three in Kolkata. There are eerie similarities between this Test and that epic one in 2001, when India overcome the most tremendous odds against one of the greatest teams in the history of the game. Now, it's Pakistan in the position that India were in then, having lost the first Test and with an apparently insurmountable mountain in front of them in the second.

Jaffer and India show no mercy

Wasim Jaffer will think of this in years to come as Good or even Great Friday, but those that thronged to the Eden Gardens expecting a great spectacle were left with the same feeling that most of us get when watching stage-managed wrestling 'fights'.  The script became evident early on and by mid-afternoon, the only question was whether India would top the 366 runs they managed on the second day of their Sydney run-feast in 2004. There was also a slim chance that Jaffer might go on to eclipse the 228 that Virender Sehwag flayed on the opening day of the series in Multan [2004].

Greater experience the key to India's success

It's never over till Bianca Castafiore sings, but with just 32 runs needed on the final morning, India are on the verge of going ahead in the series. It helped that their luck was in - Rahul Dravid survived an excellent shout from the serially unfortunate Mohammad Sami - but they also made their own fortune with greater awareness of the demands of the five-day game. They stayed patient in a morning session where Pakistan were unnecessarily reckless, and the batting in pursuit of 203 was characterised by the sort of bloodymindedness that they have often lacked in crunch situations.

Searing pace, and a tremendous riposte

Over the past decade, there have been many critics who have questioned Shoaib Akhtar's commitment and appetite for the game. If they had been at the Kotla today, they might have seen a man transformed, someone who finally appears to have grown into the role of the leader of the pack.

Kumble enjoys near-perfect day

When Shoaib Malik won the toss and decided to bat on a typically flat Kotla pitch, most Indians might have feared a bit of a leather hunt. Instead, it was the Pakistani batsmen who were constantly harassed, with the balance shifting only in the final session when Misbah-ul-Haq and Mohammad Sami illustrated just how inept the top order had been.

To the winner goes the...Indian Oil Cup

Few sporting contests rival it for intensity or the fervour that it provokes on both sides of the divide, yet India and Pakistan don't even have a proper trophy to play for. Shoaib Malik and Anil Kumble did unveil something called the Indian Oil Cup on the eve of the first Test, but it's just the next in a long line of baubles that have little intrinsic value. England and Australia play for the Ashes, Australia and India contest the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, while West Indies and Australia had had many enthralling contests for the ownership of the Frank Worrell Trophy.

Twin blows even up the contest

When Mohammad Asif withdrew from the tour with a long-standing elbow problem, it was assumed that it would seriously impact on Pakistan's chances of victory in the Test series. Mohammad Sami might have done exceptionally well on the last tour of India, but you'd have to speak to a member of his family or fan club to find anyone who thinks he, or a raw Sohail Tanvir, is half the bowler that Asif can be. It was building up to be one of those rare series - as in 2004 - when India's pace attack actually appeared to be more formidable than Pakistan's.