Why India's losses in the first two Tests are a case of missed opportunities

India have put the Aussies under pressure on occasions but failed to grab the big moments

Another Test is behind India, leaving a lot of ifs and buts. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is right: it doesn't matter how close you were to winning - what matters is the end result. India were beaten by four wickets to go down 0-2 in the four-match series.

Looking at Australia's scorecard in the second innings, losing six wickets to get to the target of 128, might make fans wonder what would have happened if India had scored another 50 or 100 runs. Then the Australians would have found their tail wagging as it did in the first innings to take their side to cross the line.

This business of the team being young and inexperienced or some players being at the end of their careers is unacceptable once they are selected to do a job. In 2011, it was said the seniors had little motivation as they were on their last tour Down Under.

Now the side is raw, the average age being 26-27. By the time they again go to Australia four years down the line, they will be into their 30s and by Indian standards will be too old unless one is a Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid or a VVS Laxman with loads of talent.

If anyone thought the series would be very close and that even India can win, it is only because the Australians do not have a team that looks as good as any of their predecessors. In both the Tests, India appeared to have thrown it away from positions of strength.

India need to seize the big moments

If it is any consolation, the Indians had their fair share of moments in both the Adelaide and Brisbane Tests. But then this is not the first time they’ve looked good to win. It happened in South Africa and it also happened in New Zealand when Brendon McCullum was allowed to score double and triple centuries in the two Tests. The triple century came when his team were 84 for five, and they went on to post 680 runs to deny India a massive victory.

Similarly in England, India began the series well, scoring 400 in the first innings at Nottingham and close to another 400 in the second in the drawn Test and then won the second Test at Lord's. After that was the usual depressing story whenever India travel abroad; the team was unrecognizable.

So it is not that the Indians cannot bat or bowl on overseas pitches, it is just that they can't sustain this for the entire series. It is understandable you can miss out in two-Test series as they did in South Africa and New Zealand, but not in a four or five-Test series after making decent starts and even looking like winning.

Dhoni had answers for the "debacle" as he termed it on the penultimate day. He was open in saying that there was a communication problem when Shikhar Dhawan did not want to resume his innings on the fourth morning, having injured his wrist at the nets. Virat Kohli was told about going out a few minutes before the start of play and that surely would upset any batsman. Worse, when Dhawan came out he batted fluently, raising doubts about his mental makeup.

The Test was lost in the second session on the third day when Steven Smith and Mitchell Johnson pulled their side out of serious trouble. When both were dismissed, the Indian team looked like gaining a handy lead but it allowed the tail to wag and lost the initiative. What they did was get Johnson back in his bowling rhythm and also regain his batting touch.

Right to feel aggrieved over dodgy umpiring calls

Of course, some will complain about the umpiring and justifiably so as India were mostly at the receiving end of poor decisions. Most cricketers worldwide must be having a chuckle seeing the misery of the Indian batsmen as it is the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that has opposed the Decision Review System (DRS) right from the outset.

Players have pulled their hair out in frustration when they were at the rough end of the umpiring in international matches against India because they don't have the benefit of DRS. Even a majority of the Indian players have been unhappy at times, but they had to give in to the whims and fancies of some senior players.

The philosophy that everything evens out may be true when individuals count their good and bad umpiring decisions. But in the overall context of the match, these decisions surely have an impact. A legitimate question is why can't the umpires check with the third umpire if they are in doubt just as they do in the case of low catches and no-balls after a wicket falls.

The umpires must check the bat-pad-glove decisions with the third umpire just as they do with run-outs and stumpings, even when they are abolutely sure the batsman is out by yards.

India should set out to make amends for the two losses which they should not have lost with a little care and application. They should go to Melbourne with the knowledge that they can take on this Australian team. And they should.