Within an hour of passing the fitness test this morning, Mitchell Johnson was in thick of things. In the absence of senior paceman Brett Lee, he had to not just be skipper Ricky Ponting’s go-to guy but also the inspirational leader of the Australian bowling department.

With only 68 ODIs under his belt, Johnson had his hands full — and as it turned out, he wasn’t able to shoulder the heavy burden. His two expensive batting power-play overs triggered India’s final assault as the hosts reached a record 354 for seven, and his staring/sledging match with opener Virender Sehwag ignited a contest with a long history of verbal duels.

Johnson won the battle against Virender Sehwag, with the Indian opener’s dismissal soon after their unparliamentary conference. But his figures of 10-0-75-3 showed that it was his only victory of the day. Johnson turned out to be the most expensive specialist bowler for Australia, and only a couple of inconsequential wickets in the final over of the Indians innings that lent a flimsy layer of respectability to his analysis.

Before the series started, Johnson had spoken about his metamorphosis from a bowler who would go back to his run-up with no expression on face to someone who would linger on the pitch for a brief chat with the batsmen.

“I tried to bowl with some fire during the Ashes. I quite enjoyed it, to be honest. I got on the faces of few of their players and some of them didn’t like it. Some day it works for me, some day it doesn’t. I still have to figure it out — maybe just giving a cheeky smile is best,” he had said.

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