No killer punch is sobering

MARK it down as one of the truly chastening results in Australian cricket history.

Australia’s bloodied wounds and state of shock are even more acute because there is not a solitary excuse and no place to turn for obvious improvement.

Sorry folks, but there is no heroes arriving on horseback.

This is it. Australia got essentially its best squad to throw its best punch – and it got knocked cold.

Australia lacked a killer punch all series. It cornered India time after time but could never crush it. On the final day of the series, it was as if Australia and India had morphed into each other.

Australia, red-faced, scrambling and desperate, resembled so many beaten and bashed touring teams to Australia on the last day of the final Test. And magnificent, indomitable India did a plausible impersonation of any number of great Australian sides by hustling and bustling and thinking “win’’ when most others would have dropped anchor for the draw.

That mindset shift is the really jolting thing.

When an opposition team loses all four tosses, its captain, seven players through injury and still spank your regal backside, you’ve got problems.

But the real problem is that there are no answers. While Indian played everyone bar the bus driver out of necessity, Australia at some stage played every plausible option, albeit with a couple of injuryenforced changes.

There is not a single player outside those tried who could make a significant difference going forward for Australia, which has been force-fed the message it is not as good as it thought it was.

The road forward is challenging. Dropping Matt Wade for South Africa is fine, but for whom? Travis Head? Really?

There is no hard-luck case outside the Test team.

Debate will rage on about Tim Paine. His tactical nous is under fire and it is a worry that he has not been able to inspire his men. But who is your next captain? Australia is not keen to go back to Steve Smith and it makes no sense to appoint Pat Cummins while he is as overworked as a drover’s dog.

Apart from that morning in Adelaide when India was bowled out for 36, Australia looked flat for most of the series. It had no presence in the field. No growl or snarl. India was the louder team on stump microphones and that is unheard of in Australia.

India has raised the bar in cricket. The scary thing is it is likely to keep going up.