Come to think of it, it took all of 15 minutes for the Guwahati one-dayer to be decided. Whatever happened after that – the fightback by Praveen Kumar and Ravindra Jadeja and the brief period when Harbhajan Singh snaffled two quick wickets – proved totally irrelevant at the end of the day. And that was because, as skipper MS Dhoni candidly admitted, India had dug themselves out into such a big hole at the start that there was no way to come out of it.

Dhoni placed faith in his experienced batters, expecting them to see the team through the tough initial period after winning the toss. However, their technical deficiencies were embarrassingly exposed against classy new ball bowling. So much was expected of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, but both were undone by the guile of Mitchell Johnson, who once again proved that when there is enough in the pitch, he is among the most dangerous bowlers to face. Sachin was due for a failure after his marathon effort in the last game and while Yuvraj Singh can consider himself unlucky, the same cannot be said about Suresh Raina. He just seems to be waiting for the surprise short ball and in the process loses concentration. This is not the first time that the renowned batting line-up has failed under tricky conditions, so it definitely doesn’t augur well with the 2011 World Cup in sight.

On a positive note, it was nice to see the lower order putting up a brave effort once again. Jadeja showed that he had learnt his lessons well from the previous games, whereas Kumar’s performance with the bat will give India the choice of playing an extra bowler, if needed, in the near future. Harbhajan failed for a second consecutive time, but he has played a couple of gritty knocks in the series. That said, India need his services more as a bowling all-rounder and not vice-versa. India’s bowling effort at Guwahati wasn’t too bad. Munaf Patel started well and Harbhajan claimed a couple of confidence-gaining wickets on a spinning track. However, considering the upsetting batting failure, the bowlers could do little but retrieve some pride by delaying the win.

The Aussies, on the other hand, would consider themselves lucky to have lost the toss as it gave their bowlers the opportunity to exploit the early morning moisture. They were already on a high following the close win at Hyderabad so this gift from Dhoni was like an icing on the cake. And they received it gleefully. After Johnson had done the early damage, Doug Bollinger demonstrated why he is rated so highly by Ponting. The five key wickets Bollinger grabbed in the middle of the innings ensured that India’s hopes of a miraculous recovery were dashed and virtually sealed India’s faith in the series. The impressive aspect of his performance was that he did not attempt anything out of the blue, sticking instead to the basics of line and length.

At various stages in the series India had their moments, but failed to grab than. And so it has to be said that the better side won in the end.

Mitchell Johnson and Doug Bollinger made excellent use of the early morning moisture on the Guwahati pitch as Australia crushed India by 6 wickets in the 6th one-day international, and in the process clinched the series 4-2. Johnson picked up three wickets while Bollinger claimed his maiden five-wicket haul to bowl India out for a paltry 170. Matters could have been worse for the home side, but for defiant half-centuries from Ravindra Jadeja and Praveen Kumar. They had crumbled to 27/5 and then 75/7 before the Jadeja and Kumar combined to add a valuable 74 for the eighth wicket. In reply, Australia lost Shaun Marsh early, but handy contributions from the remaining batsmen saw them through easily.

Earlier in the day, MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first – a decision which he was left ruing within 15 minutes of the game. Mitchell Johnson, who had a horrendous series before the game, came into his own on a pitch that offered him more than a semblance of assistance. Though Virender Sehwag smashed the second delivery of the game for six over point, he was cleaned up the left-arm seamer in the same over with a fuller delivery. The Indian opener’s defence stood thoroughly exposed as his attempted drive saw his stumps ending up in shambles. In came Gautam Gambhir and, in a matter of minutes, out went Gambhir. The left-handed batsmen tried to play one across the line on the on side, but the ball moved in the opposite direction and sent the furniture behind him cart-wheeling. Soon, Johnson sent back sometimes in-form, sometimes out-of-form Suresh Raina with a slower delivery that the youngster failed to pick and handed a simple catch to short mid-on.

At the other end, Bollinger was in his elements too. Amidst all the havoc wreaked by Johnson, he began by sending back the danger man Sachin Tendulkar, caught and bowled off a straightish delivery. Next man Yuvraj Singh was dismissed rather freakishly. Unaware of where the ball had landed up after playing a defensive stroke, Yuvraj turned around in place his bat inside his crease. Unfortunately, the ball was still in motion at that very place and the meeting the willow saw it end up dislodging the bails.

As if India weren’t embarrassed enough, Bollinger returned for two more spells and had an equally damaging impact. He broke a steadily developing partnership between Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja. The Indian skipper was a tad unlucky as he was adjudged lbw off a delivery that was going to miss the off-stump. But this was Bollinger’s day. He got his much-deserved fifth wicket when Jadeja went for an ambitious on-side wallop in the batting power play just after completing his half-century. Some meaty blows by Kumar ensured India gained a degree of respectability before Shane Watson cleaned up the tail.

Australia did not have too much trouble in their chase. There was a brief flutter when Ponting and Waston fell after a steadying partnership. But the Indian bowlers did not have enough runs to play with. In the end, it was a deserving win for the Aussies.

The heartbreak at Hyderabad will rankle the Indians just as much as the loss in the Chennai Test against Pakistan a decade ago. It was a match India should have won considering they had six wickets in hand and just over 50 to get. But they blew it away rather embarrassingly and the last few minutes of game proved why they do not deserve to be the number one team in the world. The frenetic running between the wickets was absolutely pathetic, and that is to put it mildly; Ravindra Jadeja’s run-out was symptomatic of the Indian effort, if you take out Sachin Tendulkar and the contribution Suresh Raina to an extent.

The defeat will once again raise questions regarding Sachin not being a finisher despite the fact that he scored more than 50 per cent of the runs in the chase. However, it was clearly the younger brigade which let India down. The fact that Raina doesn’t know how to pull has been demonstrated in his dismissals umpteen times, yet he keeps playing that fatal stroke at inopportune moments. And Thursday’s dismissal is one he would not like to remember, but one is sure he won’t be able to forget it soon considering it ended up costing India the match. Time and again, Raina has looked good enough to take India to the finishing line. However, he’s been a failure on most occasions.

Similarly, Jadeja had another great opportunity to become a hero, only to squander it away with some nonsensical play. His charge down the pitch when the ball hadn’t gone anywhere but straight to the fielder was a clear indication that he couldn’t handle the pressure out in the middle. And the Aussies pounced on him and every chance they got to mow down the Indians. Praveen Kumar’s six in the dying moments did give India hope. Unfortunately, the earlier batsmen had just left him with a little too much to achieve.

What hurt India most was there was only one partnership of note, which took them to the doorsteps of victory, but was broken just as the Aussies were beginning to run out of ideas. Virender Sehwag cannot be blamed on this occasion, since he had not option but to go after the bowlers right from the start. However, chasing such a mammoth target, India desperately needed at least two out of Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni to fire. That did not happen and if India still got so tantalizingly close to the target, it was only due to Sachin’s efforts. He has to ask himself though whether he needs such stressful times at this stage of his career.

India have now lost two consecutive matches chasing. Remember they came into the series with a strong batting line-up as their strength and have faced what can be termed as an efficient bowling line-up at best considering the number of injured players in the Australian side. This certainly doesn’t augur well for the home side. Their bowling too struggled at Hyderabad, however that had more to do with the pitch. The loss though has to be attributed to a total lack of mental application by the batters, especially towards the end when a cool head would have done the trick.

Despite being massive disadvantaged due to their unending injury problems, Australia have still managed to compete and keep the series alive. At 2-2 going into Hyderabad it is anyone’s series and India will need to pull their socks up and not take the opposition lightly, like they did in Mohali resulting in a disaster. Australia, in the meantime, will also be without all-rounder Moises Henriques, who himself was brought in as cover for James Hopes, and so must have lost faith in process of replacements. Apart from the XI they played at Mohali, they only have two left in the reserves now – Clint McKay and Jon Holland, both of whom are likely to sit out at Hyderabad. Still, the victory in the last match would have boosted their confidence no end.

The Aussie batters have struck form with Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting getting among the runs at the top of the order. In the middle-order, Michael Hussey and Cameron White have been consistency-personified. If anything, they need better support from the lower order. With Henriques out, Adam Voges will be back, and he along with Graham Manou and Mitchell Johnson will be expected to make better contributions.

Bowling wise, Australia discovered a star in the making at Mohali in left-arm quickie Doug Bollinger. He was exceptional with his accuracy and movement and was justly rewarded. Shane Watson and off-spinner Nathan Hauritz also impressed, but the absence of the wicket-taking Peter Siddle will be sorely felt. He was undoubtedly Australia’s best bowler of the series so far. Ben Hilfenhaus, who is likely to take his place, will have a tough task on hand. But he is a competitive cricketer so expect him to come up with the goods. That leaves the Aussies with their biggest worry named Mitchell Johnson.

When Brett Lee was ruled out, Johnson automatically became the pace spearhead of the team. Unfortunately, he has done nothing to justify the position. If anything, he has been off target and been dealt with rather harshly but the Indian batters, Sehwag in particular. But with the lack of arsenal, Australia have no option other than to keep playing him. How Johnson fares in the remainder on the series will have a definitive impact on the final result. The death overs bowling is another area where the Aussie bowlers will have to improve their performance drastically to keep their team’s chances afloat.

The hosts, themselves, have quite a few tribulations of their own. Virender Sehwag has been giving the team rollicking starts, but none of his knocks have gone beyond the description of a cameo. India would be hoping for a big one from him. Ditto with Sachin Tendulkar and the back from injury Gautam Gambhir. If the top three fire, India’s middle-order automatically becomes doubly dangerous as Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni can directly go for the kill instead of rebuilding the innings first. Also, it is about time Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja come up with something substantial.

Before the start of this series, the Indian bowlers were under fire from all quarters. The much-maligned brigade has redeemed itself though, at least for the movement. Ishant Sharma’s rediscovery of himself has been the biggest plus, whereas Praveen Kumar is learning the art of bowling even when there is no swing. Ashish Nehra’s comeback is only getting better and better with every passing game. About Harbhajan Singh, India will have to wait and watch, because even though he is struggling with the ball, he is coming up with good knocks with the willow. It’s no rocket science though that India need Harbhajan the bowler back.

Keeping in mind, Australia’s depleted army of men, India are hugely advantaged. However, they can only utilize the golden opportunity if perform to potential and not get lethargic, like we witnessed at Mohali.

There was little going against India in the fourth ODI at Mohali. They won the toss, got the better of the bowling conditions, restricted Australia to an easily achievable target and even put up an unexpected sparking performance in the field. Yet, they ended up on the losing side. It can only be put down to a complacent effort by their batsmen on a pitch where the ball was coming on to the bat very nicely till the very end. All India needed was a reasonable score from one of their top order batsmen and decent contributions from a couple of the others and they would have cantered home rather easily. Not only have the home side squandered a rare opportunity to go 3-1 up against Australia, they have also given the ‘wounded’ Aussies a new lease of life in the tournament. And we all know how dangerous they can get once they smell blood.

The entire Indian batting line-up needs to be held responsible for the defeat, may be with the exception of Virender Sehwag, who, it seems, has been given the license (or may be he has taken it himself) of going after every delivery. While it has been absolutely entertaining to watch him taking on the bowlers, how the Indians would wish he can carry on a bit longer. It’s not all that difficult for the man. Asking him to change his natural style would only backfire on India; if only he can be slightly judicious in his shot selection in the remainder of the series, Australia’s woes would be compounded to magnanimous proportions. As it is they are struggling to put together a fit XI. The Indians cannot get a better opportunity to put it across the Aussies, something they have failed to do in a long time at home against the world champions.

Sri Lanka recently sent out the message to the veteran Sanath Jayasuriya that his spot in the ODI team is not guaranteed anymore, unless he performs with some degree of consistency. It may be too early, but the same principle must also apply to Sachin Tendulkar. He hasn’t crossed 50 in any of the four ODIs and the poor decision he got at Mohali cannot be considered as an excuse. The Indian team management must ask itself and Sachin the tough put pertinent question – will he still be around when the 2011 World Cup comes. One is not querying Sachin’s commitment, but it has been often proved in recent times that his splitting the Gambhir-Sehwag combo has harmed the team’s chances.

Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja are still young, yet they need to learn sooner rather than later. What is disappointing is that they aren’t really making a concerted effort to dig themselves in when the team needs. Kohli played an expansive stroke before getting set, whereas Jadeja ran himself out needlessly. Suresh Raina has been on the international circuit for a couple of seasons now and he, more than the other youngsters, needs to put his hand up and lead the brigade of the young guns. When he made his comeback last year, he stroked some sparking centuries. Even though against minnows, the tons made one believe that he was ready to climb up the ladder. That though is yet to happen and, like Rohit Sharma, Raina too will face exclusion unless he performs soon.

A lot to improve upon for India as they head into the next game. The hosts would have reclaimed the top spot had they beat the Aussies at Mohali. But considering their disappointing performance, it is clear that they are not yet ready to take over the numero uno slot.