Australia are still the best cricket team in the world but teams will now know, as they did after Ashes 2005, that if you come hard at them early they are, as Shylock said in a slightly different context, “fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer.” This knowledge will encourage and test the rest of the cricket world. Knowing this to be true, are they good enough to put Australia into that position? And will we then arrive at the conclusion that Chappell suggests likely; that Australia may not be improving as much as the other teams are going backwards?

Tendulkar also seeks to remind people that the Test team did an excellent job too. Anil Kumble would be one of my candidates for player of the series for the manner in which he held the team together after the ridiculous events of Sydney. That piece of drama ended up helping India, because it took such a lot out of Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds that they had very little left to offer in the one-dayers. India’s aggression on and off the field made Australia a lesser team in the one-dayers.

Having said all that, Tendulkar throws in the googly. His favourite shots, he said, were the two upper cuts off Mitchell Johnson! And here we were talking about his straight drive and the great punch through cover off the back foot! Maybe it is the shape of things to come, maybe the new ‘V’ will be behind the wicket rather than in front of it! And if that is the way ahead, so be it, for the game must evolve and not all change is bad.

... contd.