The portents for disaster were all there—the Indian batting had failed in its last 12 outings. The big three—Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid—shared a combined average of 59.4 runs in their last 10 innings. The Indians looked hollow-eyed and timid even before they left for South African shores, hoping with more than a tad of optimism that a new place would mean a new beginning. It was not to be. If a complacent approach could be blamed for a shameful performance against the part-time cricketers from The Netherlands, one would have expected the players to desperately attempt to shake the monkey off their backs against World Cup favourites Australia. The perfect opportunity to turn the tables. When Saurav Ganguly won the toss, a relieved smile spread across his face but it was rudely wiped off in a matter of minutes by Brett Lee. One Indian batsman after the other poked and fidgeted at the crease as balls hissed past their eyes and they looked like battered children with dominating parents—bumbling, nervous, suffering from a crippling deficiency in confidence. Leading from the front in a characterless Indian plot was the skipper, playing (once again!) at a ball a mile away from his body, only to be caught behind by Adam Gilchrist. Virender Sehwag, going after a wide ball, was Lee’s next victim and a couple of hours later the Aussies were all smiles, shaking their heads with a touch of disbelief at the unbelievable collapse they had scripted.