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India might have suffered a comprehensive defeat against Australia, their fifth on the trot in away games. But after a seesaw tussle like this I am almost tempted to whip out that old aphorism, “The result was of secondary importance", and that too not simply as a coping mechanism.This was a game to savour and rounds off a bunch of great ones in 2011. Notwithstanding the Sehwag-Pattinson fracas, for once a match featuring India and Australia was almost entirely free from melodrama yet thick with action. In the end the Boxing Day Test didn’t produce one of those marvelous team efforts that compensate for the lack of individual contributions. For India there was no romantic edge in defeat, or even a soothing century from Sachin Tendulkar. But cricket as a sport made some gains.Let us for a moment suspend our inclination to scream at India’s batting bulwarks for twice caving so abjectly and recognise that exciting contests like this must not be viewed through the lens of parochialism. We must ask ourselves: in this age of hyper-commercialisation can fans view this spectacle as a battle between ball and bat that is ultimately won not by the size of endorsements but by wits? Can the sport be thus reclaimed ugg classic knit boots ?The Melbourne match will be remembered for pitting different skill-sets against each other. The bowlers from both sides did such a great job it almost demands reorienting their axis of identity. What we witnessed was not so much a match between India and Australia as an exuberant clash between bowlers and batsmen.So long as the men strive to keep things competitive and keep their wits, there’s always a chance of pulling things back. Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesThe Australians were disciplined and aggressive. First the Indian batsmen were softened up with bouncers, then in a classic hustle they were drawn to the bait and nabbed. When their turn came the Indian bowlers returned the favour almost immediately albeit their demeanor was a tad more profligate.Pitching the ball up just outside an off-stump line might seem like returning to the fundamentals of wicket-taking -something that many sides have eschewed in favour of more defensive tactics since T20 took root. But its effectiveness is underlined in the manner it forced a batsman of the calibre of VVS Laxman to lean forward and fish outside his comfort zone shortly before he was dismissed in the second innings. The beauty of it is of course that it shaves off a further fraction from the reaction time afforded to batsmen and gives them even lesser margin for error. When late movement deceives extraordinary batsmen like Dravid ugg boots sale , lesser mortals haven’t a hope in hell.If Pattinson Co continue to bowl with such imagination it seems unlikely that this Indian side will cross 300 in any of the remaining matches. On the other hand, if the Indians tighten up their act -and Zaheer Khan remains available -they could trigger some pretty quick finishes themselves.During many passages of play runs streamed uninterrupted like a YouTube video on a decent broadband connection; uggs the sustained attack however produced wickets at regular intervals. Most importantly the bowlers hunted as a pack, never letting up the pressure on batting pairs. Oddly it was left to some seriously old geezers -Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey, and to a lesser extent Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in the first sojourn -to demonstrate the finer aspects of building a partnership under pressure. Class always shows although not even these batting greats significantly altered the course of the contest. Some sessions were better negotiated than others but overall the bowlers won out.Yes: it may be fair to say that the Indian batting lineup is experiencing a crisis of faith. The pressure from England has doubtless carried over. A few crucial batters, especially Gautam Gambhir, seem out of form. The side hasn’t seemed this brittle in well over a decade, a testament to how much we have come to expect of the national team since Indian squads of the 90s toured these precincts.Be that as it may so long as the men strive to keep things competitive and keep their wits, there’s always a chance of pulling things back. They have done it in the past and there is no good reason to question their ability or commitment. Defeat as such should not rob them of the joy of playing with spirit.