Spinners make the difference

India reasserted their home dominance with a seven-wicket win in Bangalore which was their first at the venue in 15 years. The 2-0 defeat was the first time Australia lost all Tests of a series of at least two Tests since 1982-83. Australia are yet to beat India in a Test since the acrimonious Sydney match - they have lost five and drawn three out of eight matches played. Since 2000, India have challenged them both home and away, and have won 12 Tests to Australia's 10 since the inception of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 1996. Both teams have been much more convincing at home, though Australia have won a series in India while India are yet to triumph in an away series.

The first Test at Mohali was incredibly close, but VVS Laxman's superb 73 guided India to a narrow one-wicket victory. The Bangalore Test hung in the balance for more than three days, but excellent bowling on the fourth afternoon and disciplined batting on the final day swung the fortunes India's way. In both the matches, the first innings proved to be a high scoring one, but witnessed collapses in the latter half of the innings. India lost their last five wickets for nine runs in Bangalore and for 23 runs in Mohali, which must be a source of concern before the tour of South Africa later in the year. Australia, on the other hand had strong starts, but were let down by poor middle-order batting in both games. In an otherwise closely contested series, India's more experienced and skillful bowling attack proved to be the difference.

The difference between the batsmen of both teams was immense: India had three who averaged 75 or more; Australia had none. Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting were clearly Australia's best batsmen , but Ponting let the team down by his conversion rate: he had three fifties, but his highest score in the series was 77. Watson and Marcus North were the only centurions, but apart from his century, North scored 13 runs in three innings. Australia were let down most by the failures of Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey - both are considered good players of spin, but both had a rough time, with Clarke being especially poor. Hussey's average fell below 50 for the first time in his career since November 2005 while Clarke, who entered the series averaging over 46 against India, did not reach 20 even once in four innings.

For India, Sachin Tendulkar reiterated the value of his experience by aggregating more than 400 runs in the two matches. His 214 in Bangalore is his sixth double-hundred in Tests, bringing him level with Virender Sehwag in the list of Indian batsmen with the most double centuries. Murali Vijay demonstrated excellent technique and patience in the course of his maiden century. Vijay and Tendulkar shared a 308-run stand for the third wicket which is the second-highest for the third wicket against Australia. Suresh Raina and Sehwag had starts but failed to convert them. Rahul Dravid struggled a bit, but he has an opportunity to regain his touch in the forthcoming home series against New Zealand. (Click here for the series averages of India, and here for Australia.)

In terms of partnerships, India's top order did significantly better than Australia's. The visitors' opening pair was consistent, but failed to convert their starts into bigger partnerships. Watson and Ponting were the best batsmen in the top order, but the poor form of Clarke and Hussey significantly affected the batting. India had just one fifty-plus opening stand but Vijay and Tendulkar made amends with a massive partnership in Bangalore. Marcus North and Tim Paine shared a 149-run stand for the sixth wicket in Bangalore and the lower order also contributed substantially. India, on the other hand suffered lower order collapses in both Tests, but the 81-run stand for the ninth wicket in Mohali between Laxman and Ishant Sharma helped clinch the first Test.

Among the Indian bowlers, Zaheer Khan was outstanding, while Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha did their bits too. Zaheer used the reverse swing to great effect while the accurate and economical Ojha combined superbly with Harbhajan in the second innings of both Tests to restrict Australia to low scores. Ishant Sharma was inconsistent in Mohali, but brought India back in the contest with a three wicket spell in the second innings.

Ben Hilfenhaus was Australia's best bowler throughout the series, bowling testing spells in both matches without luck. Mitchell Johnson had a five wicket haul in Mohali but was quite ineffective in Bangalore. Doug Bollinger's injury proved to be very crucial for Australia as he had proved to be the best bowler in the pre lunch session in Mohali. His absence in Bangalore weakened the attack considerably and Nathan Hauritz's poor form only added to their woes. In the crucial second innings in Bangalore, he conceded over a run a ball while picking up just one wicket. Clearly the performance of the spinners was below par for Australia.

In the end, the factor that separated the two teams was the performance of the spinners. In both matches, the first innings witnessed high scores, but on wearing tracks, the ability of the Indian spinners to contain and pick up wickets regularly proved to be the difference. The Indian pace bowlers, especially Zaheer, were highly effective with the old ball in both matches. Hilfenhaus was the most consistent bowler for the Australians but Hauritz's innocuous display dented their chances.

Ponting sorted out his previous troubles against Harbhajan superbly. He scored at a consistent rate and was not dismissed even once by the off spinner. Ojha though, had a better time against Watson dismissing him on two occasions. North and Johnson were unable to cope with Harbhajan and Zaheer respectively, falling to them three times in four innings. Clarke, one of Australia's finest players of spin bowling, had a poor series falling three times to the spinners while Hussey was dismissed by Zaheer in both Tests.

Tendulkar and Vijay completely dominated Hauritz in Bangalore during their record stand. Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in the series, did not lose his wicket even once to Hilfenhaus, who was arguably Australia's best bowler in the series. Sehwag though, fell to Hilfenhaus three times in four innings. Bollinger, whose absence in Bangalore proved crucial, bowled impressively in Mohali dismissing Dravid in both innings.