The Indians, who see great merit in providing a theme for any series they engage in, gave themselves a new one in ‘Three Os’ before the Sydney Test. As Australia finished the day on 376 for 7, it has apparently not worked for the visitors.

‘Three Os’ simply stretched is ‘One-on-One’ in the parlance of the Indian team. It has been designed with the purpose that instead of concentrating on the entire Australian team, an individual in the team should concentrate on only one Australian player.

That is, any one Indian player should take the responsibility of ‘pinning down’ any one Australian cricketer and if eleven in the team are able to do it successfully, the struggling Indian team could be transformed into a winning unit in the present tour.

So if it is Sachin Tendulkar taking on Brett Lee, hypothetically speaking, or Anil Kumble securing hold over Mike Hussey, an individual should strain his every sinew and nerve to secure it.