There are two reasons why the Indian cricket team keep getting Durban-ed every time they step out of their subcontinental cocoon.

Reason One was visible at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla today - and if you want to see it for yourself, just park yourself at the Kotla grounds for the second day of a super-league match in the Ranji Trophy, India's premier domestic cricket tournament.

At the end of day one, after facing 85.2 overs of a non- too-hostile Delhi attack, Tamil Nadu's score read 184 for three. A day-part analysis of the game brings out Reason One very clearly. In the morning session, when the temperatures were low and the conditions assisted the pacers, two batsmen succumbed quickly to leave the score at two for one and then 11 for two. Now this is what happens when India go abroad as well, where there is pace and bounce and the ball is on top of the bat. Our batsmen succumb and by the end of the first session, we are invariably two or three wickets down.

However, the two stories take different turns from this point. At home, after the initial hour, the wicket gives up for the bowlers. That's what happened at Kotla - from 11 for two, the batting team recovered to reach 184 for the loss of just one more wicket. Abroad, the wicket eases up, but not completely. It still retains enough pace and bounce, so from three down at lunch, we slide further and more often than not don't survive the first day.

You can't blame the batsmen, who have grown up batting at Kotla and other such wickets in the country. They aren't accustomed to the rising deliveries, high bounce and movement that they face overseas. Is it any wonder that, tour after tour, they succumb?

Reason Two is BCCI's bigger crime. In their greed for more matches and more money, the national cricket team's interests are sacrificed by India's cricket administrators. Just compare the itinerary of the England
team who are in Australia for the Ashes with India's schedule for their South Africa tour . While the English had up to seven days of competitive cricket before the Ashes commenced, India got a single one-dayer before they encountered the South African national team.