India push Oz on top

Having said that, India have batted and fielded poorly. Sachin Tendulkar looked unsure, short of runs and you have to now question whether his passion and India’s desperation were good enough reasons to return from a long layoff so quickly. The mind might still be sharp but the movements can take time to reappear.

Tendulkar is struggling, the finely tuned chip in him still in need of a little tweaking. But with the series being played so early — if you have noticed, India always accommodate Australia’s schedule, never the other way around — there was no first-class cricket to play himself back into form.

And VVS Laxman seems, sadly, to have played himself to within one innings of a move back to first class cricket. He needs time in the middle, he hasn’t given himself that, and so must carry doubt with him to the crease. It can be deadly.

When the mind is purring, the feet twinkle; confidence powers the bat towards shot-making. When there is doubt, the feet have brakes on them, demons are visualised when there are none. The toughest muscle can turn to jelly. It is not easy to erase doubt but Laxman must. He has done it before but the past is no guarantee of the future.

Australia hold the upper hand but India contributed towards that in the field. They were shoddy and amateurish and the professional inside must hurt. At one point Zaheer Khan dawdled in the deep to allow Kasprowicz a third run and get off strike whereupon Martyn promptly hit a boundary.

Little things like that add to larger woes. Australia should have been restricted to 35 runs lesser by a trio of bowlers who stuck to the task and bowled as well as they could have. But catches went down and at least in one case a fielder was poorly positioned. It doesn’t say so in the rule book but Gambhir discovered that a debutant has invariably to field at bat-pad.

By the time the mistake was corrected, and the outstanding Kaif was posted there, Martyn had been dropped. And, gallantly as Gambhir fielded afterwards, the damage had been done.

And so, Australia’s positive methods were made to look better than they were. Their batsmen didn’t trust the pitch either and were convinced that they had to score as many as possible before the ball with their number on it turned up.

India cannot afford to do that as yet, they need to move on. Time in the middle will not worry Australia, runs on the board will. They have been the better side on a pitch meant to suit the home team and Martyn’s has been the innings of the match.

For India to win from here, the batsmen will need to make at least 300. The question is: who is going to get them?