I’d like to believe that this defeat by the Australians would hurt the Indians. The Indians must be disappointed with their batting. While MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar certainly did well --- and so did a few tail-enders --- the rest flopped.

An innings here and there amounts to little if there is no consistency, and no team can get past the Australians with this kind of performance. The Indians lacked the will to assert themselves. India never quite got the start they wanted. Nearly always, Virender Sehwag was off to a flier and nearly always his innings was cut short in full bloom. Gautam Gambhir wasn’t his consistent self. Yuvraj wasn’t much of a cause for cheer too. With so many red marks on their sheet, a series win was impossible.

Australia had some towers of strength in their ranks. Shane Watson, Mike Hussey, Doug Bollinger and Nathan Hauritz never put a foot wrong. Ricky Ponting and Shaun Marsh had their moments. The clincher for them was their effort in the field.

The current team might have outstanding men to perform with the bat and ball but without a safe pair of hands and fleet-footedness in the field, top honours will remain an elusive dream. Depressingly, India hasn’t found an answer to its woes. The fast bowlers still don’t inspire hope and spinners need helpful conditions. The search for a bowling or batting all-rounder still continues. Jadeja needs to be persevered with, as he will improve.

What India needs is for some young men to fire consistently.