Getting on the moral bandwagon

By battling to within 36 runs of the Indians, the Australians ensured that the third Test match ends up in a draw.

The morning began with the Aussies 275 runs behind with 6 wickets in hand. Michael Clarke stood between an Aussie collapse and an Indian dream of a win. As expected he received excellent support from his team-mates. However, he would not have counted on the Indians helping his cause. In a big way. Spilling catches has always been a part of the game, but the stooping of the shoulders when Clarke was dropped on 21 is not something you'd expect to see from a team that is within striking distance of toppling the Aussies.

The lack of intensity from the Indians was palpable and something that was sad to see. The Australians were batting really well, yes, but the Indians walked around between overs, took their time to bowl them, and did not display any enthusiasm. At least one ball an over was doing something, so you'd think they would be pumped up. Once Clarke was dropped, they appeared to go through the motions.

Soon the lead was whittled down to double digits and with it went any hope that India would go for the win. With good reason. Australia, being the team that trails, is the one that will look to force the issue while the Indians, based upon years and years of watching this team, will not look to force the issue if a draw is dangled in front of them.

Australia batted almost 180 overs to lose 10 wickets, which is enough for the current edition to believe that they cannot get them all out in less than 50 overs. Stranger things have happened but if you do not have the belief that they can, then you will not get the results you seek.

So, the fifth day will involve the Indians batting slowly for time, with an occasional wicket here and there injecting some artificial life into the game. At the end of the day, the Aussies will talk about moral victories and how they were the only team looking for a result.

Big deal. If moral victories mattered on the cricket field, then the Aussies would surely have been under the biggest mental cosh of them all, after losing the previous Test by a record margin, right?

Moral victories are as as influential and informative as the player interviews after the game. Lay the red carpet, Nagpur, the sound bite bandwagon is going to be talking up a great game for the next few days.