Five days of an interesting Test pass quickly. Five days of a Twenty20 tournament can seem like years.

Just last Thursday, the Indian team bus rolled out of Nottingham’s paved streets, celebrating convincing wins over no-hopers Ireland and no-good Bangladesh. Five days and two matches later, the bus has returned, the team blown away by two inspired bowling attacks, their title defence — which looked to have started so well — left in tatters. The batsmen, so dominant on the flatter tracks and smaller grounds in New Zealand and the late-summer deadness of South African pitches, were left with bruised bodies and battered egos.

One thing hasn’t changed — it was dark and gloomy when the Indian team left Robin Hood’s town, and it’s been dark and gloomy as they return. They take on South Africa at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, the battle of the favourites, potentially the highest of high-profile Super 8s clashes. As things have turned out, it’s now a contest as damp and uninspiring as the weather.

“The performance was really not up to the mark,” Dhoni said about India’s showing in the tournament. “When it comes to cricket, you have to be there from the very start till the end. Hopefully it is a good lesson and we have learnt a lot from this. If we don’t repeat the mistake we will be a good side and start performing again.”

They need to start against South Africa. There may be nothing on the line in real terms, but three embarrassing defeats on the trot could set the team back a fair bit. Just like winning, losing is a habit as well, and a considerably worse one at that. “The next few days will be tough because you have to be here and see what’s happening without being a part of it,” he said.

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