The Australia-India series has been one of the most exciting in recent Test history.

It had everything, excitement and emotion and two evenly-matched sides. The Sydney result could have been very different if Steve Bucknor had not gone to sleep during the match. This series also opened up the issue of sledging and its detrimental effect on cricket. When 'clean' cricket was played at Perth, one could see the true performances of both sides. Sledging should be banned for the well-being of the game.

India exposed Australia's weaknesses, not with their batting, but with their bowling this time. No-one expected the Indian bowlers to do well and bowl the Aussies out so often. To see Ricky Ponting being troubled by a young and inexperienced Ishant Sharma was a treat to watch.

'I never believed in Sehwag before the series started but look what he delivered'


I wish there had been enough time for the Indian batsmen to get adjusted to Australian conditions. The Pakistan series should never have been played. It did more damage to the team by wearing the players out, making the bowlers tired and raising false hopes. Yuvraj Singh and Wasim Jaffer flourished against a mediocre bowling attack on dead tracks and then failed miserably when facing a real Test attack on wickets that were better suited to bowlers than those in India. Look what excessive cricket did to Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Munaf Patel and Sri Sreesanth.

Verinder Sehwag and Sharma were the surprise successes. I never believed in Sehwag before the series started but look at what he delivered. He made the Australian attack look pedestrian. Rahul Dravid was a big disappointment - I get the feeling he is on his way towards retirement.

The Aussies were made to work hard for the first time and it showed in their fielding. This series took away the myth that the current Australian team is invincible. They had got used to not playing under pressure and faced relatively mediocre bowling (after the 2005 Ashes). And they crumbled under pressure during this series.

I'd warn those who think the Aussies are losing their cutting edge. They still have their fighting spirit fully intact. Sri Lanka, with a better pace attack on paper could not even go past Michael Clarke.

Brett Lee has more than made up for any bowling deficiencies in the team. Other than the sub continental wickets, the Australians do not have to worry much about spin bowling. I do not see much hope for Shaun Tait in Test cricket. He looks too fragile and injury-prone to last in the longer version of the game.

Stuart Clark will trouble a lot of batsmen on bowler-friendly wickets. Phil Jaques, Michael Hussey and Clarke are beginning to shape up very well and Mitchell Johnson is improving all the time.

There is one more thing that adds to the Australians' strength – learning from their mistakes and becoming stronger. They have a good captain in Ponting and I am sure our Indian team learned a lot from that experience. Indian crowds should learn from the Aussie crowds - to see Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman get standing ovations was wonderful.

Adam Gilchrist's departure overshadowed all the ill-feeling that developed during the series. His retirement is cricket's big loss.

Anil Kumble and Sachin have a huge responsibility in shaping the future of Indian Test cricket. The new batsmen disappointed against quality bowling. MSD Dhoni was not up to the mark in this series, Rohit Sharma, Tiwari and Suresh Raina will need to be brought in and groomed as soon as possible to fill the batting line-up.

Our fast bowling department looks very good, in the spin department Harbhajan Singh is not at his best. He needs to do some homework.

We must phase out Sourav Ganguly and Dravid. I do not know how successful Sehwag will be on Indian wickets where the ball does not come up to the bat. He can also be vulnerable in swinging conditions like England and New Zealand. He is still better than Jaffer and knows what it takes to be in the Test team.

India must develop a separate team for the shorter version of the game whose focus must be on youth. One day cricket will help develop the skills to play under pressure. This is the path our selectors should take.