Three weeks ago, India went into mourning after the 0-3 loss to New Zealand. Emotions of shock, pain, anger, humiliation and disbelief flowed freely because nothing captures the imagination of Indians like the sport of cricket.

A five-Test series against Australia was close at hand and even though India had won their last two Test series in Australia, there were more questions than answers, more negatives than positives and more snakes than ladders.