Defining series provides uncertain end

It was a strange kind of a whimper to end what was the sort of absorbing and hard-fought series we have come to expect between Australia and India over the last decade. There was a needless run-out, a key batsman was forced to retired hurt and the middle-order was dismissed cheaply. Ingredients, one might think, for a dramatic collapse, echoing events at The Adelaide Oval in 2003 and 2006. But with just one wicket down in the first session, the Indians never looked threatened. Sehwag brought up his century before lunch, the team's total not far advanced beyond his own and the next highest score 11. If that suggests he blazed while others blocked, it is also illusory; by his standards, Sehwag appeared relatively sedate, tending to shun the off-side flail which both his supporters and opponents relish. The four titans of the Indian middle-order, whom Australians may be relieved never to see grace their country in Tests again, all departed subdued: Dravid to a badly-bruised finger; Tendulkar impaling himself on the horns of a sharp single; Ganguly squeezing a catch to cover; and Laxman with a diffident glove through to Gilchrist. That man, one of the most exciting cricketers ever, spent his last day in the Test arena quietly marking time behind the stumps. The Adelaide pitch, which had not failed to produce a result this decade, slept while the people demanded a thrilling end, a fitting farewell to greats and a fulfilling dovetail to the month-long contest. In the end, a series which was at once a joy, a frustration and a powerful fuel for debate unraveled to its natural conclusion, with neither side striving hard or well enough to dispute the inevitability.

This was a game for the individual: Tendulkar, in surely his last Test in Australia, striking his second century of the series, his 39th in all, ascending again to the heights at the one time home of the greatest of them all. Ponting, cussedly pushing all doubt and criticism from his mind and unburdening himself in the way he knows best. His first hundred of the Australian summer was marked as others might a half-century. The helmet stayed on, the emotion bottled up; rarely, though, can runs have meant so much. And Gilchrist, part of so many Australian victories and a crucial factor in a good portion of them, departed with a draw. One of the ironies the Sporting Gods delight in; another perhaps was Michael Clarke's shelling of a chance offered by Sehwag on the fourth evening which would have reduced India to 2-2. The man who sparked victory at Sydney spurning the chance here.

In Gilchrist another link has gone to Australia's almost unadulterated period of success over the last decade or more, while performances which did not match those of their post 2005 vintage have caused the question to be posed of how long their dominance can continue. Matthew Hayden's importance to them was reaffirmed both by his absence in Perth, where the top order lurched, and his return in Adelaide with an unerring century. Yet Hayden is now the team's elder statesman at 36, and cannot be looking far beyond the penance a good Ashes in England in 18 months time would bring him. Brad Hogg is unlikely to play much more Test cricket after his treatment by the Indians. They are, admittedly, the masters against slow bowling, but his deficiencies at this level were exposed not only by the opposition batsmen but one of his own team-mates in Andrew Symonds, whose supplementary off-breaks outdid Hogg's wrist-spin. Stuart MacGill will be hoping for one last twirl, especially if Australia tour Pakistan as planned in the spring, but there is a reasonable chance his knee will decide to retire on him before he himself is ready to call it a day. There ends the feasible list of Australian Test spinners, unless you are willing to entertain the notion of another thirtysomething leggie being drafted in, this time Bryce McGain, who spent much of his career at Victoria in the shadow of not only Shane Warne but the now disregarded bowling talent of Cameron White, who still has the best domestic bowling record of all the young(ish) Australian spinners, although it has long been acknowledged that he operates as a slow, not spin bowler.

Still, there is much to marvel about this Australian side. Brett Lee was a deserved man of the series; he has made the transition from spare part to leading man so quickly and seamlessly that it is hard to recall him as anything else than the top-drawer bowler he now is, bearing the torch not only for fast bowling in Australia but worldwide. Mitchell Johnson was unconvincing at times, but swept up a tidy haul of 16 wickets; while Stuart Clark was wicketless in Adelaide but a threat always. As a trio they complement each other perfectly, with a mixture of pace, bounce, swing and cut all bound together by a collective parsimony, Johnson the most expensive of the three this series at just 3.15 rpo. While the batting generally held up well when led by Hayden, Symonds proved the revelation, chalking up 410 runs to match Hayden as Australia's leading run scorer. Allied to his nine wickets and customary sharpness in the field, he had a series which marked his evolution from sore thumb to key cog, as he has been in the ODI team for some time.

For India, the next few years could also be a tricky period of change. Ganguly and Dravid, both axed from the one-day squad, have begun to look tired, and, at 35, may well be eyeing the Australians' return visit in October as a swansong. There was a heartening resurgence of those who have already been through the cycle of rise and fall so common with Indian cricketers in Sehwag and Pathan, who opened together in Adelaide. That is not a partnership which should last, but hopefully both players will - Sehwag as India's one proven opener, and quite possibly Anil Kumble's successor as captain, and Pathan in the all-rounder's role vacant since Kapil Dev's time.

Also impressive were the visiting seamers, who shone after pack leader Zaheer Khan was injured in Melbourne. RP Singh filled his shoes as senior bowler, his displays of swing and aggressiveness earning plaudits and a good haul of wickets. Way back in the averages, but foremost in most minds is Ishant Sharma, who managed just 6 wickets in 3 Tests but in the process humbled two of the world's best batsmen, Ponting and Hayden, with extended spells of incisive, inquisitory seam bowling, gaining the prized scalp on each occasion. One must exercise a note of caution before singing Sharma's praises to the skies. It has been said of many over the last four years that they are the answer to India's perennial prayer for a good fast bowler: Zaheer, Nehra, Agarkar, Balaji, Pathan, Sreesanth, Munaf and RP Singh to name but eight. Some have fallen by the wayside, others have been and gone and come again, while few have escaped the ravages of injury. Ultimately, there is room for only three, at a push four. On this evidence, Sharma will be a difficult man to displace. With a height few Indian seamers have enjoyed, decent pace and the ability to make the ball bounce and move off the pitch, he has all the right attributes, while his survival in the bearpit of Australia suggests he has the right temperament for Test cricket too.

When all is said and done, Australia still hold the trophy and the whip hand over other Test sides. A series of away fixtures will be telling, as they have not played a Test abroad since mid 2006. With no Test-class spinner available, they are likely to suffer in some circumstances, and four seam bowlers looked an undesirable balance. The loss of so many matchwinning players was always going to affect the Australians, and they can no longer take dominance for granted. That does not mean they will not continue to churn out series wins, just that they have inevitably slipped within reach of the chasing pack. But it is up to the other teams to bridge the still considerable gap, something India made a good fist of; they cannot expect Australia to fall to their level, and it is likely that the slackness which crept into the home side's game, especially regarding catching, will be tightened up on. So less a decline, more unavaoidable recalibration as an era chock-full of brilliant players bleeds into another whose potential is as yet unknown. All that can be said for sure is that Australia's progress over the next year will be tracked with interest, rather than the resignation which their prolonged period of supremacy had forced most to become accustomed to.