The last time India did well outside the sub-continent was the tour of Australia more than two years ago. India was not expected to do well but competed reasonably in the end. The reason not many gave the Indians too much of a chance was that they typically had done poorly batting on the hard bouncy fast wickets down under. However, along came the first test and Saurav Ganguly was on hand to score a splendid 144. What followed was an inspired batting performance where almost every Indian batsman contributed and the Aussie bowlers had the toughest time in recent memory - albeit that Messrs. McGrath and Warne were out of action.
Contrast that to India's lacklustre performance in the last one year. One of the standing issues that India has had to face is the lack of any sort of batting contribution from its captain - Saurav Ganguly. Quite obviously, the rest of the line-up has lacked inspiration. More importantly, if the captain himself is struggling to get bat on the ball and is ducking and weaving to the likes of Sami and Shane Bond, how does he demand discipline and consistency from his fellow team mates. Batting is half the game and if India does not ensure that it is competitive on this front, it will loose more than half the games it plays. Unless Saurav Ganguly can change his batting fortunes soon enough, I do think it will be time for India's most succesful captain to step down.
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