India’s is one of the finest team performances in recent times, with pretty much everyone (except maybe Laxman; not even a catch – rare occurrence) chipping in. To add a nice twist, the stand-in captain is the man-of-the-match and a stand-in spinner the highest wicket-taker of the match. It will be really interesting to see what happens with Kumble now. It would be a serious compromise to have him back in the side for the next test, and what happens next will determine whether the selectors are really looking ahead or if it is just lip service. Kumble should have smelt the coffee before, and it is a great reminder of mortality for the other veterans in the side.

It will be extremely interesting to see how Australia come back now, and come back they will, with all guns blazing (as they did for the first 49 runs in the second innings). They have the batting firepower; it is the bowling that is worrying. Getting Warne back is hardly the solution (it’s not like he’s had great test success in India anyway) and how they face their sternest test in years will show what kind of champions they really are. But to roll over and die again…no, it is hard to believe that will happen. The next test match should have mouthwatering levels of intensity from both sides.

What is however worrying for any Indian cricket lover is the empty stadium on all days of the match (and the Bangalore test wasn’t much better attended). Here in Mohali, Tendulkar broke the test runs world record while scoring a super near-hundred, Ganguly got a gritty-but-pretty ton, Dhoni, Sehwag and Gambhir inimitably flourished, a local spinner-on-debut shone and India thrashed the world’s number one team in a little more than four days…and hardly anyone to clap and scream? Has T20 had its say with the shallow Indian cricket fan? Were they the majority to start with? Is Test Cricket in trouble too in India, finally? These are the most significant questions after the first two tests and the most-awaited answers from the next two.

 

• Jacob on 2008-10-22 18:27:08
  Test cricket won't die, it will just take a bit of time for T20, its spinoffs such as the IPL and Stanford, ODI cricket and Tests to settle down and find their own spaces. There is just too much chaos in the way world cricket is organized right now, as an earlier article (Arkham Asylum) on this site pointed out

• Sachin on 2008-10-22 18:24:50
  I suspect the empty stands issue is a bit overplayed in that I don't think it represents a falling interest in tests and a rising interest in t20's and so on. Because everyone was following the game pretty closely on television and is celebrating the win.
  
  It is probably one of those things that just happened, primarily on account of the heat, and that a season, so to speak, is just kicking off. Don't think we should fuss too much over it

• karachikhatmal on 2008-10-22 14:09:00  - karachikhatmal.blogspot.com
  i don't think the aussies will come roaring back. they'll probably take it up the pipes this series and then come back roaring against the south africans. in fact it makes perfect sense - as always the south africans would be the favorites cuz australia would have just lost a series. and then the south africans would crumble under the expectations and be humiliated and the australian decline would be hidden for a little while longer.
  
  top stuff from india, but the empty stands was heart wrenching. i thought pakistan had this problem and india never would, yet the day tendulkar got his record, more people came to watch the icl match in ahmedabad then the handful who witnessed the historic occasion. and that spells the end of test cricket as we know it. perhaps that is why this is the end of an era series.