Time For India To Get Real

To say India's acknowledgement of England's new number one status in Test status is grudging is an understatement. It is generally hard for players, supporters and commentators with allegiance to the World Cup winners to admit that their team is inferior to England.

Excuses for India's humbling this summer abound. The board is blamed for prioritising the Indian Premier League and imposing an unfavourable schedule on the team. Injuries to key players and misfortune with umpiring decisions are also cited. No one knows who to blame for the inadequate preparation and poor condition of some squad members. Those following the online betting will be shocked by how badly wrong things have gone.

It is intimated that a fully fit and prepared Indian team would beat England, especially at home. We will find out if that is the case the winter after next, but in the meantime it is a mistake to try and look beyond England's superior skill and application to explain their convincing series victory. England fans rarely found solace in their team's scheduling problems and injury nightmares on continuous Ashes hammerings down under.

A dose of realism is needed, if the team's third heaviest Test defeat of all time is not enough to confirm that India's star names are revered too much for their past performances and reputations than current form. Betfair Ambassadors like Michael Vaughan know how poor the side have looked.

It is true that England's bowlers would have to work harder for 20 wickets on the subcontinent than they do in home conditions, but would India's ailing attack become more threatening on their own pitches? One suspects that England's batting order would quite fancy their chances on some Indian featherbeds.

Things might get much worse for India before they get better. Their much vaunted batting line-up will soon be replaced wholesale and the creaking Zaheer Khan and past-his-best Harbhajan Singh will leave similarly big holes.

If admitting their team is second best is difficult for Indian fans, acknowledging they are a midtable outfit would be virtually impossible. They might soon be confronted with that reality – as Australia have discovered, the slide from the top can be rapid and steep.