SYDNEY, JAN 2: People in thousands poured into the Sydney Cricket Ground in the morning, so did the rain. And when the game took place, the Indians got submerged in a deluge of batting disasters and have nothing to look forward to in the match.The Indians, unmindful of the adverse conditions for batting, for once decided not to play safe. To bat first after winning the toss was a decision which, given the circumstances, could be interpreted as a bold statement from a team that has been on the defence throughout the series. When play was called off due to bad light, India's action had failed to match their intention. The boldness of the decision was overshadowed by a batting display that was setting a new low for the Indian team.Even Sachin Tendulkar, despite his thundering strokeplay, could not give a temporary respite to the team from being pushed into a corner from where they have no escape left. After 60 overs in the Test, the only question that remains to be answered is not the margin of defeat, buthow many days will India last.If India were downcast, it was another day to rejoice for the Australians. People in various shades of blue, red, green and yellow you name the colour and it was there were trooping into the ground from early morning. It was a sell-out with no vacant spaces available at the ground, despite the threat of rain.Within an hour sheets of rain started belting the ground and out came umbrellas of different hues, lending more colour to the ground despite the horizon being grey and murky.The crowd was kept entertained with the giant screen on the ground showing clippings of various Australian matches. There was also a parade of BMWs, of the living legends of New South Wales being driven around the ground.The match, which remained suspended for nearly two hours due to rain, started dot on time. The Indians had decided not to open with Devang Gandhi, discarding him for Vijay Bharadwaj. The man to open with VVS Laxman was MSK Prasad. It was a tough responsibility thrust on aman who has had no experience of opening an innings.In conditions where very little was in a batsman's favour, for Prasad to last 43 minutes was an achievement in itself, but India were one down for 10 and soon two down for 27, Laxman for a change fending a lifter from Brett Lee to the slips.Once again Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar were getting associated at the middle with an impending disaster looming large on the horizon. Dravid had come out to bat in a far more positive frame of mind, if one goes by the number of shots he attempted to play in an innings that was terminated once more at a stage when the batsman appeared determined to play a long innings.Dravid's drought of runs has, unfortunately for India, come at a time when they need him most. Seeing Saurav Ganguly walk in, Steve Waugh gave the ball to Greg Blewett and the batsman obliged, patting a short ball into the hands of the Australian captain in the slips. Needless to say, India's only hope was Tendulkar.Though Dravid was the firstof the two to fall, it was Tendulkar who looked vulnerable at the start, especially to Lee's speed, control and movement outside the off stump. But that did not deter him from striding into his strokes and thumping the ball across the ground and into the stands.Tendulkar had decided to display all the wares at his command, including the hook shot, which, except when he had lost his wicket to that stroke in the first innings at Melbourne, he had not employed here so far.McGrath bowls short, Tendulkar hooks and the ball races to the mid wicket fence. In McGrath's 12th over, Tendulkar sent the ball to the fence three times, twice hooking him and once sending the ball crashing into the long off boundary. It was the stuff by which greatness is measured and the SGC crowd was on its toes.Off the last ball of the same over, Tendulkar played across the line, was hit on the pads and up went umpire Ian Robinson's finger. The ball may have possibly gone above the stumps, given that it hit the batsman when hisfeet were in the air. It was not a decision that appeared 100 per cent correct under the microscopic eye of camera replays. Tendulkar may have been undone by an umpire for the third time in the series. What an anticlimax to an innings that had set the adrenaline of the crowd flowing.More drama followed. McGrath, seeing Tendulkar's body language conveying dissatisfaction, had an eyeball to eyeball confrontation with him and a few unpleasant words to say.The Indians now were on the run, with Lee even being on a hat trick for the second time in the three innings he has bowled. Lee was not only sharp and quick, he was accurate as well, all signs of a great career having been successfully launched. His second victim was Hrishikesh Kanitkar, and then, after a brief gap, he had Bharadwaj caught by Adam Gilchrist's diving lunge down the leg side. And the next ball, Ajit Agarkar departed on the first ball for the fourth successive time. Javagal Srinath denied Lee a hat trick but India had plummeted to a newlow.ScoreboardINDIA (1ST INNINGS)MSK Prasad c M Waugh b McGrath(43m, 37b) 5(Hung his bat outside the off stump)VVS Laxman c Slater b Lee (93m, 60b) 7(Fending a short ball)R Dravid c Ponting b McGrath(102m, 74b, 1x4) 29 (Edging an outswinger)S Tendulkar lbw McGrath(82m, 53b, 8x4) 45 (Playing across the line)S Ganguly c S Waugh b Blewett (5m, 5b) 1(Patting a short ball to slips)H Kanitkar c Gilchrist b Lee (83m, 67b, 1x4) 10(Edging an attempted drive outside the off stump)V Bhardawaj c Gilchrist b Lee (67m, 35b, 1x4) 6(Trying to glide down the leg-side)A Kumble batting (25m, 23b) 1A Agarkar c M Waugh b Lee (1m, 1b) 0 (Edging to slips)J Srinath batting (14m, 8b) 2Extras (lb-11, w-1, nb-4) 16Total (for 8 wkts in 261m, 60 overs) 121Fall of wickets: 1-10 (MSK Prasad), 2-27 (Laxman), 3-68 (Dravid), 4-69 (Ganguly), 5-95 (Tendulkar), 6-118 (Kanitkar), 7-119 (Bhardwaj), 8-119 (Agarkar)Bowling:McGrath 15-6-34-3, Fleming 13-7-24-0, Lee 17-9-25-4, Warne 13-4-22-0, Blewett 3-2-5-1.
