The debacle in the Nagpur Test meant yet another loss this season for the struggling Indians. While the one-day upsets were disappointing, this series defeat has been the biggest of them all. It is quite unbelievable that the same bunch of players who brought India so much glory last year with their superlative performances in Australia and Pakistan have disintegrated so rapidly. It can be argued that Pakistan were not at their best earlier this year and even Australia were missing their strike weapons McGrath and Warne when India toured Down Under. But no credit should be taken away from the Indians for the way they competed with whatever they were up against.

However while India enjoyed the fruits of success, it also laid the seeds for the disaster to follow. All the fame and adulation, which was expected to rise sky-high, certainly got to the players. No other Indian team had tasted such success overseas for a long long time. Looking back at it, one gets the feeling the players couldn't handle it.

Sourav Ganguly, whose captaincy whose been praised highly over the last couple of years, must take some responsibility for the slide in Indian cricket. He openly came out in support of Yuvraj being the Test opener India were looking for just when Sehwag and Chopra were beginning to forge a nice little partnership at the top of the order. One does not have to be a genius to understand what a player must be feeling like when his captain disowns him in public. It is no surprise to see Chopra who batted with such great guts and determination in Australia struggling lately considering the amount of pressure he has been in to retain his place in the team. True, Chopra doesn't have a great record in Test cricket. But at least he was seeing off the new ball, a major reason for the middle-order's success in Australia. How many openers tried out by India before him have been successful at it? By asking Yuvraj who is primarily a middle-order batsman and does not have the required technique to open, Ganguly has destroyed the confidence of both the talented left-hander and the Delhi opener.

If there is one criticism about Ganguly's captaincy, it has to be his favouritism towards some players whom he believes have a better chance to succeed at the international level. It would be unfair to be too critical of Ganguly as he has been such a successful captain but then he also has to back players with limited ability like Chopra. The skipper will have to change this attitude and stand behind each and every youngster once they are picked to represent India.

Ganguly apart, there were a few others who also had their say during the brief golden period of Indian cricket. The opening debate took a new turn when Sehwag openly came out in support of his Delhi teammate and confessed he would be more comfortable opening with Chopra as opposed to Yuvraj. This was something not seen very often in Indian cricket where a player openly admits his disliking to the captain's decision. It was an indication of the mood in the Indian camp flying high during such a successful run of victories. Everyone felt he had a right to speak his mind even if it is against the team's overall interests.
 

In all the euphoria surrounding the highs, the Indians seemed to have forgot that cricket is a great leveller and unless they work really hard to capitalise on the successes in Australia and Pakistan, things would be a lot different next season. Prior to the Asia Cup, Sehwag commented he would look to score a 200 in one-day cricket. As things turned out, he struggled to score 20 until that blitzkrieg at Chennai saved him the ignominy of being dropped only months after becoming the first Indian to score a triple century in Test cricket. Not only Sehwag, even the middle-order batsmen including Dravid and Laxman have been out of touch this season. The Australia series is gone for India. But the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman must look to play themselves into form prior to the Tests against the Proteas later this month. The South Africans are only as low on confidence as India after their string of losses recently and so the upcoming two Tests should be a fascinating contest between two sides struggling to play according to their abilities.

Coming back to the attitude of the players, one hopes they have learnt a stern lesson from the contrasting experiences of last and this season. Don't open your mouth unnecessarily and let your performances speak for themselves.