Possibly, Start Of A Change Of Guard

• Pace bowling: The Indians moved the ball both ways, reverse-swinging it early
  
• Batting: Winning a crucial toss, India put up the runs in quick time in both innings
  
• Dhoni: Inspirational, taking charge of the situation on the field and with the bat
  
• Brett Lee & Co: Completely ineffective, the bowling flat and one-dimensional

***

Australian captain Ricky Ponting's face spoke of untold horrors.

Asked about an inspired move, Dhoni would only grin and say: "Fluke tha yaar...."

He had gone forward to meet the ball all right, moving his shoulders back in that sudden, jerky sway of his, bringing the bat down in defence when he found the ball was coming in. Yet, as if on a will of its own, the delivery bent in with irresistible pace and knocked back the off-stump. Ponting retained his stance, pillar-like, as if ossified by the sound of ball hitting wicket. He looked back to make sure he'd heard right, cast a baffled glance at the pitch and walked away. His fall in the second innings of the second Test sprung a leak in the line-up that could only get worse. Pretty soon, Australia were sinking, nose first, on that fourth day Mohali pitch.

It was an incredible ball from Ishant Sharma, part of an astonishing performance by Indian pace bowlers in Mohali. With a sad, sheepish look, days after promising to confound the Indians with "new age" cricket, Ponting admitted to the novelty of the situation. A loss by 320 runs—Australia have never been beaten so thoroughly by anyone in a very long time. They couldn't bat, they couldn't field and, most crucially, they couldn't bowl like the Indians did under an inspirational stand-in captain, M.S. Dhoni.

Zaheer Khan and Ishant swung the new ball both ways, made it seam sharply and reverse-swing disconcertingly early. The Australian batsmen, reared on a staple of quick bowling, for once didn't know if the ball would go past the inside or the outside edge of the bat. Six of their batsmen were bowled between bat and pad, another six were LBW, three perished behind the stumps—a sure sign they were caught hopping at the wicket. The Indians played like Australia did at their pomp. After the game, Dhoni said, with a barely hidden smirk, that the Australians were playing defensive, even timid, cricket. "The first spell, they had 22 runs in 13 overs on board," he grinned. "I told Rahul we won't get to see that in any other game against Australia."

The Indian players and support staff Outlook spoke with were pleasantly surprised by the lack of penetration in Australia's bowling, though none would go on record in the middle of the series. "With this team, they look very, very ordinary. Their bowling has just one dimension, it's very flat," said a senior player. Added a member of the coaching staff, "On a wicket on which Zaheer and Ishant bowled with such penetration, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle were completely ineffective. Without Warne, McGrath or Gillespie, they are struggling."

Lee has taken four wickets from two games at an average of close to 60. Ishant has 11 at 20.63, Zaheer 10 at 26.4. At the height of his powers, Zaheer leads the pack, and even the Aussies hail Ishant as the new Glenn McGrath. As if the twin terrors weren't enough, Amit Mishra, the leg-spinner who got in Mohali when Anil Kumble pulled out with a shoulder injury, snaffled seven wickets in a dream debut.

Columnist Peter Roebuck, former Somerset captain, believes Lee and Co lack local knowledge. "Australia suddenly is not so strong at Nos. 1, 2 and 10, 11," Roebuck told Outlook. "In other words, they're not winning the battles of the new ball. And it's not only a story of Australia falling, it's also a story of India rising. For the first time, a composite India-Australia side would have at least eight Indian players. "

Roebuck believes that in the subcontinent, you must work your fingers on the ball, get the reverse swing going. "I think Venkatesh Prasad deserves a lot of credit. India has a lot more skill at that than Australia," he said. "Zaheer's very first over on the fifth day showed that. He made it talk, both directions. Nothing complicated about it, just highly skilful bowling."

A TV grab of the state of the balls after an equal number of overs bowled by both teams proved the Indians have the art of keeping the shine on one side of the ball, the Australians lack it. No wonder some Aussie batsmen looked like outdated spare parts on the crease. "We got the ball to swing, especially reverse-swing when it was nice and hard," Dhoni said. "We pitched it in the right areas, and the spinners also bowled well."

Dhoni himself was a factor: aggressive batting and field placements, and promoting himself and Sourav Ganguly in the second innings (keeping Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman in reserve) because he wanted runs scored quickly. He knew he was the man for the hour, and didn't allow his admiration of the three to cloud his objectivity.

Then there were the fine touches he displayed, flourishes that inspire—handing Ganguly a stump after the game got over, insisting that he himself was just a "stand-in skipper" in a "stand-in blazer" (he wore one to the toss). There's also a trait of self-effacement that's endearing. He was asked about his advice to Mishra to bowl around the stumps, a move that resulted in Michael Clarke's dismissal in the first innings. It was an invitation for the captain to shyly lay a claim to tactical acumen. Dhoni grinned and merely said: "Fluke tha yaar...it was a fluke!"

Ponting, though, is sure it's not a fluke by India's swingers. "Our ball started reverse-swinging in the 70-80 over mark, theirs was reversing in six or eight overs," Ponting noted. "That's a huge difference in the game." And that's where Zaheer and Ishant took charge, and the game away from Australia.

Australia arrived in India early and Ponting said they were prepared like never before. They've now got a hiding like never before. With hostile spells on unhelpful tracks, Indian pacemen have initiated reverse swing when conventional movement was hard to come by in the first place. A confused Australia were left to count the fallen. The Indians have reason to rejoice—at least till the third Test.