They were bad starters, yes. But of late, they had discovered an ability to recover and hit back on tour. In Sri Lanka the previous year, they had drawn a series after losing the first Test by an innings. In South Africa, they had bounced back immediately from a first-Test drubbing with a historic win at Durban and had the better of a drawn third Test.

At tea on Day Two at Trent Bridge, India’s bouncebackability seemed as strong as ever, their score reading 215 for four after bowling England out for 221. But then, Stuart Broad happened, and Ian Bell the day after. Nothing was the same anymore.

Now, preparing for a New Year’s Test at Sydney after another first-Test defeat, the Indians might still be in the grip of the psychological domino effect caused by Broad’s hat-trick and Bell’s breezy, 206-ball 159. The Boxing Day Test at MCG produced India’s fifth straight away defeat. As in Nottingham, positions of strength had disappeared in puffs of dust. The ability to seize openings seemed to have deserted a side that had occupied the top of the Test rankings in the not too distant past.

100th Test at SCG

The 100th Test to be staged at the Sydney Cricket Ground, therefore, will come upon India at a particularly delicate moment in their history. Victory, or even a draw, would restore a lot of belief. Defeat here could send things spiraling out of control. For some reason, the SCG is spoken of as a venue that the Indians like. Results don’t really suggest that, with their four most recent visits yielding two draws and two losses. But India were dominant in both the drawn matches, with a stubborn Allan Border denying them an innings win in 1992 and a typically dogged Steve Waugh 80 saving his farewell Test in 2004. On the next tour, a freakish over from Michael Clarke turned a near-certain draw into an Indian defeat.

All three of those Tests contained Sachin Tendulkar centuries. One more in this match would relieve world cricket of ten months worth of pent-up anxiety. VVS Laxman loves the SCG too. He has scored three hundreds there in three Test matches. India would dearly love either or both to enjoy another fruitful New Year’s Test.

The Australians, however, will try and make things as difficult as possible for the pair, and the rest of India’s batting. On Sunday, the pitch appeared to have a healthy covering of grass on it — pale, straw-coloured grass but grass nonetheless. Swing and seam have played a massive role in recent SCG Tests, with Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sami, James Anderson and Tim Bresnan bagging significant first-day hauls in the last two.

It will worry India that their lineup is filled with batsmen searching for form, particularly Gautam Gambhir at the top and Virat Kohli at six. Both occupy pivotal positions.

The benefits of a good start are too well-known to elaborate. From 2008 to the start of 2011, India’s middle order has derived much of its aura from the starts that Gambhir and Virender Sehwag provided. Their combined descent into inconsistency is a significant reason for India’s on-tour batting horrors of 2011.

No.6 worry

Meanwhile, the calls for Rohit Sharma to replace Kohli grew in volume after the latter’s twin failures at the MCG, but India will most likely give Kohli another opportunity. While that is only fair, the current occupant of that hard-to-fill slot will quickly need to prove his worth. In a way, the flagging fortunes of the number six have a lot to do with India’s recent travails abroad.

Very often, batting collapses begin at 200 for four, when a wobbly number six enters the scene. During the England tour, the thought of Suresh Raina padded up seemed to bolster the home side with an almost literal interpretation of the old adage — add two wickets to the batting team’s score and it doesn’t look so imposing anymore. Kohli will need to ensure that he tightens his game at the SCG, and survives the testing spell that he is sure to encounter upon arrival at the crease, and not let 200 for four become 214 for five. Too often, it is a precursor to 257 all out.