Winning and losing is part of sport. Certain defeats can be difficult to digest. Saturday’s result at Mohali was one of such.

There was no way India should have lost that match (India vs Australia).

To let go one winning opportunity is perhaps understandable but India were in control throughout the Australian innings and it was a combination of one over by a part timer, another horrid over towards the end and poor planning by the captain, that in the ultimate analysis, led to a defeat, a result which is hard to accept.

Yes, limited overs cricket is known for its twists and turns and very little can be predicted it these matches. But surely when 130 runs are required in 13 overs with five wickets in hand, it is a clear winning position for the fielding side. Again with 66 required from five overs at 13.2 an over with four wickets in hand, the screws have been tightened on the batting side that much more and when 44 runs are required from 18 balls at 14.66 an over, it surely is all over bar the shouting. But perhaps, it is not so when it comes to Indian bowlers – and captains.

A lot has been said and written about the failure of the bowlers and they have been rightly taken to task. A cricket team that concedes over 200 runs in a T-20 international and follows this up by being hammered for over 300 runs in three consecutive ODIs matches, is clearly asking for trouble. It means nothing if you have the best batting line-up in the contemporary game along with the worst bowling combination.

Even in limited overs cricket, like in Test matches, it's the bowlers who win matches. What happened at Jaipur in the second ODI was an aberration. The first game at Pune was more in keeping with the norm. The Australians batted admirably and then the bowlers backed them up by restricting the formidable Indian batting.

For years now, the most lustrous batting line-up in the world has seen to it that India are able to hold their own in international cricket. The bowling despite the efforts of Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh has presented problems and now with two of the quartet having retired, and two clearly past their best, it has reached crisis levels.

It was hoped following his impressive debut in Australia in 2007-08 that Ishant Sharma would be the great big hope, but the lad first stagnated and now has reached the point of no return.

In Geoff Boycott’s favourite word he has been bowling ''roobish''.