"India's win in the Twenty20 must have been a fluke," commented a friend who knew almost nothing about cricket. But after the win in the World Cup, he had begun to take interest in the game, and was following the India-Australia with enthusiasm. I offered no reply to his comment.

India's win in the Twenty20 World Cup took everyone by surprise, as no one expected a lot from them. They were the underdogs, who went on to win the World Cup and came back to a welcome that they had only dreamed about. Everyone was quick to shower praises on the team, and money rained on the players from all directions. But, it seems now that the celebrations were a bit too soon.

In the six one day games that have been played till now, Australia have managed to keep a tight leash on the Indian team. Before we continue, lets just take a look at the statistics from the last six games :

ODI     Venue                   Played first & score        Played second & score       Result

1st      Bangalore              Australia, 307/7            India, 9/1                          Game stopped due to rain
2nd      Kochi                   Australia, 306/6            India, 222 all out                Australia won by 84 runs
3rd      Hyderabad             Australia, 290/7            India, 243 all out                Australia won by by47 runs
4th      Chandigarh            India,      291/4            Australia, 283/7                  India won by 8 runs
5th      Vadodra                India, 148 all out          Australia, 149/1                  Australia won by 9 wickets
6th      Nagpur                  Australia,317/8            India, 299/7                       Australia won by 18 runs

Australia is 4-1 up in the series, and if the weather Gods had not been favorable, this could very well have been 5-1. Even if India wins the last game, a highly improbable event, the score will be 4-2 against India. No Indian player has been able to make much of an impression in the series, and Aussies have dominated the game in all the six matches.

Though, the series loss is unfortunate, yet it has it's positive side. After the Twenty20 World Cup, the players of the Indian team were upbeat and their attitude was bordering on overconfidence. In a reversal of roles, the Aussies decided to stay quiet and focus on the game, while the Indians let looses a serial of verbal attacks on the visitors. That would have been alright, had not the Aussies made them bite the dust. One lesson the Indian team should learn from this is to be careful about what they say and who they say it to.

On another note, fame is the bane of Indian cricket. Players play for individual glory, and they could not care less about the team winning or losing. When they came back from their Twenty20 win, they should have tried to prove that their win in the World Cup was not a one off chance, but something that was well deserved. The fault, in some ways, also lies with the people of India, who are always looking to make heroes out of these players. One big score and the player is talked about on all TV channels and in all the News papers. This puts a lot of pressure on the player, both on the field, and off it.

Yet, the fact is that the player who is playing in the national team has to play well, and be mentally strong  to deal with the pressures that accompany playing for India. The players should focus only on the game and leave the talking to the managers and the Public relation attached with the team. Maybe then the team can be a true World Champion.  But, as things stand today, it appears that we have along way to go.

"India's win in the Twenty20 must have been a fluke," commented a friend who knew almost nothing about cricket. But after the win in the World Cup, he had begun to take interest in the game, and was following the India-Australia with enthusiasm. I offered no reply to his comment.