Eighteen minutes into the first session on Day 1 of the Adelaide Test, Virender Sehwag tossed the ball to Ravichandran Ashwin. The off-spinner might have been shocked himself. If this was Kanpur or Chennai, no one would have been surprised, but this was Australia’s best batting surface and if you aren’t going to make the most of the new ball here then you will struggle.

As things turned out, Ashwin did a pretty good job. He kept the runs down to a minimum and even claimed two wickets but his introduction into the attack also showed how little faith Sehwag had in the likes of Ishant Shamra. Umesh Yadav opened the attack, got plastered for 12 runs in his lone over before being replaced by Ashwin. It was only when Zaheer flagged that Ishant was given the ball.

Since a good 08-09 season, Ishant has struggled. Take out that WI series and two Tests versus Bangladesh, he’s averaged over 50 in 24 Tests. But still he finds a spot in the team when the likes of Pragyan Ojha might have done a pretty good job as well. But India didn’t even go there even more galling was the fact that Sehwag bowled 13 overs himself. And this was just day 1. If you can’t have your best bowlers the regulars running in hard on day 1 of a Test after being rested for more than a week then something is wrong.

But India didn’t even go there even more galling was the fact that Sehwag bowled 13 overs himself. Getty Images The decision to keep VVS Laxman in the squad also showed that India doesn’t have a problem with keeping the faith. But they do have a problem with taking a good thing a tad too far.

The series was decided, the future is at stake and we have one of our finest young batsmen Rohit Sharma sitting on the outside, with no apparent way in. Are the seniors in the team so vain that they did not see a way to let the young man play the Test? Or were they so enamoured by the batting surface on display at the Adelaide Oval that they didn’t want to let go of the opportunity to score some big runs?

What’s true for Rohit is also true for Ajinkya Rahane. Both the Mumbai players have earned the right to play for India. But somehow the team management thinks they are only good enough to be substitutes or ferry drinks. Either way, the seniors are just too powerful to dislodge and they are united. Gambhir says Laxman should be allowed to decide when he wants to retire. Sehwag says Gambhir seems to be in good nick. Rahul is inspired by Sachin. Dhoni says the 100th century is around the corner. Why even BCCI president N Srinivasan believes Dhoni is a very astute captain. The more you think about it, the more it seems like the mutual admiration society. It seems to be a simple case of ‘You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.’

No one wants to criticise the other because they probably believe that if they do that then they themselves might end up in the line of fire. So like frightened sheep, they seek safety in a pack. This is ideally where coach Duncan Fletcher needed to have put his foot down unless he himself is already resigned to the thought of retiring again. The Indian team was crying out for change – in mental and physical terms but the decision to go with the tried and tested only shows that this team just refuses to move on – from the defeats and the past.