T20 rout at Melbourne

India’s inept batting display at Melbourne in today’s one-off T20 match against Australia meant that we ended up with an indefensible total (74 runs- and we did not even bat the 20 overs). The asking rate was 3.75 runs an over- something that would have been par for a test match, but abysmal for an ODI or a T20. Expectedly, Australia walked all over us to reach the target with over 8 overs to spare and with 9 wickets in hand.

Half the Indian team had not played a match in Australia and were woefully under-prepared. Most of them were also very young (I suspect the average age today would have been below 24). Dhoni’s continued lack of form- and runs- must now be a serious cause for concern. Our fate in the ODIs does depend quite a bit on how he shapes up in the middle order. 

Kudis to Australia for a clinical display. They have, as Ponting said, taken one step in “settling some scores”.