The nature of Indian cricket makes it inevitable that much optimism - however unwarranted - is attendant upon each of the team’s fixtures. Coming off a pathos-filled tour of New Zealand? Struggled inordinately against the Netherlands? No matter - against Australia at the SuperSport Park, the fans reason, India will come good. They always have done against top-flight opposition before, haven’t they?

One man contributed much to the reasoning behind this optimism - misplaced, as it transpired. Sachin Tendulkar’s record against Australia, especially in big matches, is majestic, and when he walked out to open with Sourav Ganguly after India won the toss, it was difficult to not recall previous explosive Tendulkar-Australia contests in hungry anticipation.