Perth Test: Day 1

As the Day 1 at Perth comes to a close, India are already staring at defeat. It was complete massacre of a team which was not long ago supposed to be the best Test Team in the world. Batting was the strength of this team which held it together. Batting allowed the team to blossom. It was the Indian batting which made the oppositions wilt. But now, far from scaring the opposition it has failed to make any impact.

It all started with Sehwag's departure for a duck. He got a very good delivery, but it was no where near unplayable. He would have rued his dismissal because he might have enjoyed batting on this fast wicket with true bounce. After his departure Gambhir batted positively trying to continue his form Sydney. Unfortunately for India he could not cash in on the start he got and yet again perished poking outside the off stump. Though Gambhir has shown a lot of heart he after a lot of hard work he throws it away by poking at one without being able to resist the temptation.

It is never easy to come back into a Test match after being bundled out for 161 especially when the pitch was pretty decent. Even if India had fancied any chances of a miracle saving them, David Warner blew it away in just one session. He batted without mercy and butchered the Indian bowlers to every corner of the WACA.

The four pace-man strategy is always a risk. In this case it has backfired badly for India. The very fact that the Indian camp chose a four pace-men shows that there psyched out by all the hype surrounding the pitch. It was also reflected in their batting. All of them looked circumspect and were avoiding the positive strokes.

It was another disappointing innings from Rahul Dravid. It has been a pain to watch him bat. He was the one who held the Indian batting together for so many years. He was the one who set up the stage on which middle order used to party. Now he has grown old. He is not able to deftly weave the platform which he used to do with amazing consistency. There seems to be a big crack in the wall, which I fear might me beyond repair.

Ben Hilfenhous again ripped through the Indian batting. It was a combination bowling with extraordinary consistency and batting with almost zero confidence and belief.

The only positive for India on an otherwise gloomy day was Virat Kohli. Kohli showed a lot of promise but missed out on a big opportunity to make the start count. He seems to have the makings of a very good test batsman.

MS Dhoni's poor record overseas continued. He fell poking at ball outside the off-stump which is a cardinal sin on Australian pitches. In test matches Dhoni seems not be yet clear with the dilemma he has, whether to play his natural aggressive game or cut his stroke play.

Australia had no problem in wrapping the tail. In fact it was a procession once Kohli departed.

Where does India go from here? They need find inspiration from somewhere. There is no doubt that this is a very capable team which has been under-performing. It is team which has nearly 500 test matches between them. It deserves to do better things and put up much better shows.