The word at Wantage Road, headquarters of Northamptonshire County Cricket Club during the two-day tour match that filled India's time between the second and third Tests, was that M.S. Dhoni's Devils might well lose the series against England 4-0.
I am sorry to say that I am coming to that viewpoint. Not sorry for the team which has played so badly – with the honourable exceptions of Rahul Dravid and Praveen Kumar – but more because it will be such a let down for the 10,000 who filled the County Ground.
Where is Sachin?
They had only one question: where is Sachin? But isn't that what we have been asking throughout this tour. He was resting in London as monarchs are apt to do but we wait for that touch of majesty which might save this trip even if it is 0-4.
These fans deserve more not just because of they had travelled many a mile – all the car parks were full with number plates from around the nation – but because even with their side 2-0 down to this rampant England side they brought the spirit of Mumbai and Chennai even if, at the same time, they also accompanied friends who were obviously English, and almost all wearing England replica shirts.
There was no difficulty between the two sets of supporters, no apartheid, no attempt to search out Tebbit‘s Law – Norman Tebbit, a Tory Minister, decreed 30 years ago that no foreigner became truly English until he supported England rather than his native land – but a marked degree of tolerance, good humour and enjoyment.
Each single was greeted as if it might be a winning goal, a lad with a megaphone could be heard above all the rest; while the families produced sandwiches and cakes and scoffed with relish; very English-Indian.
You did not have to watch the game for long to see that the chances of India getting back into the series were slight.
Virender Sehwag, joining in after his injury, made only eight but looked as if his touch was still there, if hidden, but the only people who celebrated the dismissal of Gautam Gambhir, lbw to Willey for 18 were his mother and father, high-fiving one another in the stand.
Peter Willey was the bravest of the brave in the days when the West Indies fast men made cowards of us all, players, reporters, spectators and, so the rumour has it, unborn children.
Abhinav Mukund, who I believe will be back soon with a Test average in the 40s and a hatful of strokes, batted calmly until he quit injured and V.V.S. Laxman was, well, V.V.S. Laxman, with a hint of Azharuddin, but perhaps weighing the pros and cons of retirement.
Dhoni was hardly in long enough to judge and as soon as the match ended we realised we would not see Zaheer Khan for 16 weeks.
Looks ordinary
Sadly, this Indian team looked so ordinary that it might have been called Oldshire playing top-of-the-table Northamptonshire in the Second Division.
What has happened to the spirit that won the World Cup, where are the scores we anticipated from the top five, why has Harbhajan Singh spun so badly?
Duncan Fletcher sat in a darkened room wondering too. He joined the world's best and found that, against the men he turned into winners, they were distinctly third rate.
Too late to do anything on this tour but, as he showed in his time with England, he coaches for the long term.
That surely is the spirit of India, in cricket as in meditation, philosophy and religion and surely it is the one place on earth where he will find understanding disciples.
