They thrived on a batting-friendly wicket in Nagpur and then survived on a tricky one in New Delhi. But in Mohali, in perfect conditions, India's batsmen were found wanting.
The Indian bowlers had done a wonderful job by dismissing Australia for 250 on a track many believed even 300 could be chased down. But the Australians, despite being hampered by the night dew, came up with an inspired spell of bowling to bundle out the hosts for 226 and win the fourth ODI by 24 runs. The result left the seven-match series tied 2-2.
It was not surprising that India's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni chose to slam his batsmen for their inept display that, he believes, cost India the match.
"I think it was a good effort by our bowlers to restrict them to 250. We got a decent total, but we failed as a batting unit. We should have scored 250 on this wicket. We just needed to bat the 50 overs, which didn't really happen. We lost wickets at regular intervals that really proved crucial for us," he said.
The key factor in India's run chase was the inability of a batsmen to take up the responsibility of playing a big innings or build partnerships as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals. Australia's inexperienced pacer Doug Bollinger was the wrecker-in-chief, claiming three wickets for 38 in nine overs, including the first wicket of the rampaging Virender Sehwag, who slammed 30 from a mere 10 deliveries.
"We kept losing wickets and it doesn't really help anyone. All of us got starts and we were not really able to take advantage. So once you get a start you want one batsman to carry through and then it gets easy, whatever score you are chasing, whether 250 or 300," Dhoni said.
He also refused to blame his younger batsmen, who again disappointed under pressure in a tight run-chase.
Virat Kohli, playing in place of Gautam Gambhir, scored just 10 while Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja also failed with the bat, contributing 17 and seven runs respectively. Despite that Dhoni came out strongly in favour of the youngsters, saying the experience would stand them in good stead.
"Raina got out to a beautiful delivery while Ravindra Jadeja was run-out after a mix up. I would say they have not got much opportunity to bat at that slot and it is not easy to bat at number six or seven, especially when you are chasing. You always bat according to the platform you get. Sometimes you need to accelerate or get a partnership going and look to score whatever runs are needed. They will learn from their mistakes and each and every batsman does that. I am sure with time they will improve and they have improved.
"I think one way of giving them the opportunity is to make them bat higher so that they can pace their innings. If they bat at six or seven they may end up scoring 30 or 35-odd runs, but if it is his bad day then may end up scoring 10 or 12 runs. It is very difficult and it is always better to give the youngsters a chance up the order in one-dayers. Kohli is a very talented batsman and has done well even on the field with the energy that he brings," Dhoni added.
He also clarified that dew was one of the key reasons why he elected to bowl first.
"The dew was one of the factors because we rely a lot on spinners. We didn't want to be in a position where our spinners are not able to apply the pressure. If you see why we have been successful is because our new ball bowlers have given us a start, but from the 15th onwards till the 40th over it is basically the spinners who have been doing the job. It is a fair amount of risk if you opt to bowl second. If you bat first you always have a big score on mind, so it can backfire also because you are always looking for over 300 runs if you bat first. It is always difficult to choose what you want to do.
"As far as the Mohali wicket is concerned, what we have seen is that the wicket does not break up much and it remains the same. With dew it becomes a bit easier because the ball comes on to the bat nicely," Dhoni added.
