A lot of water has gone down the Thames since the time I last posted on this blog.
It seems perhaps even a completely different time when the Indian team won at Lord's.
Cut to the present: where, after lording over England at Lord's, we repeated the same old story of inept displays in all departments of the game at Old Trafford, followed by a big zero (another oval) at the Oval too.
If, after being 1-0 up after 2 Tests, you lose the series 1-3 (with the last two Tests getting wrapped well under 3 days), it just shows how meekly and completely you have lost the plot.
It's only appropriate therefore, that we use this latest series loss to introspect for the patterns and learnings we could take from them.
More than the matches, we have lost the respect and credibility of being competent performers at the world level.
As Harsha Bhogle points out correctly, good batsmen do not become bad overnight (and vice versa too!).
So what is it, that has plagued us series after series, in overseas conditions, not just on this tour, but in all the overseas tours we have undertaken (in the real deal - the Test matches)?
We have some good words of advice and constructive analysis available here:
You can read about the background and context of India's abysmal performance here.
Siddharth Monga shares his anguish of a deflated Indian team's dispirited show here.
And this is where he shares thoughts about the benchmarks we could have on digesting and classifying how ignominious our defeats can be.
No home series victory would help heal these wounds.
No amount of wins in ODIs would create the aura that a Test series victory provides, in difficult, away conditions against quality opposition.
Let us ponder, analyze and come back stronger.
The first step has been taken, let's hope we go forward and emerge improved, stronger, and better.
It seems perhaps even a completely different time when the Indian team won at Lord's.
Cut to the present: where, after lording over England at Lord's, we repeated the same old story of inept displays in all departments of the game at Old Trafford, followed by a big zero (another oval) at the Oval too.
If, after being 1-0 up after 2 Tests, you lose the series 1-3 (with the last two Tests getting wrapped well under 3 days), it just shows how meekly and completely you have lost the plot.
It's only appropriate therefore, that we use this latest series loss to introspect for the patterns and learnings we could take from them.
More than the matches, we have lost the respect and credibility of being competent performers at the world level.
As Harsha Bhogle points out correctly, good batsmen do not become bad overnight (and vice versa too!).
So what is it, that has plagued us series after series, in overseas conditions, not just on this tour, but in all the overseas tours we have undertaken (in the real deal - the Test matches)?
We have some good words of advice and constructive analysis available here:
You can read about the background and context of India's abysmal performance here.
Siddharth Monga shares his anguish of a deflated Indian team's dispirited show here.
And this is where he shares thoughts about the benchmarks we could have on digesting and classifying how ignominious our defeats can be.
No home series victory would help heal these wounds.
No amount of wins in ODIs would create the aura that a Test series victory provides, in difficult, away conditions against quality opposition.
Let us ponder, analyze and come back stronger.
The first step has been taken, let's hope we go forward and emerge improved, stronger, and better.
