All of these will come to nothing if India go on to lose the second test as well. There has not been enough discussion of the weaknesses in India's batting. Laxman and Raina failed in both innings. Sehwag and Gambhir did well enough in the second innings, but that needs to be carried on into the next test. SP made a point in his blog where he noted that Sehwag threw away his wicket in both innings. That is definitely not going to lead to a victory and in fact may result in a defeat. It's one thing to be out playing shots and it's another to be out playing a contrived shot.
Gambhir, in my opinion, was more disciplined of the two and deserved to make a big one. He got out to a good ball, but he too needs to be more watchful of the odd swinging deliveries. Dravid has been grinding it out without the assurance of the past where would overcome the bowling at some point in the innings and truly be the wall. He looks much more vulnerable now despite getting into the 30s and 40s. He is no longer the old reliable batsman who could be trusted to blunt the best of bowling attacks and smother them for Sachin and Laxman to milk.
Raina has some luxury of failing occasionally, but the manner in which he got out in the second innings was just awful. He just didn't seem to have the gumption to try to stick around and get a big one. He appeared to be trying his luck and that may work in T20s and ODIs, but doesn't in test cricket. If he plays the next test match he has the most work to do.
Add this to the bowling woes and India's best chance to win looks like it's being frittered away. South Africa are playing at full potential and if India is going to win, the only way they can is to play to their full potential. Right now it appears that there are too many loose ends.
The debate about first versus second is a good one. South Africa have won a series in India and India has won only one test. It is India that needs to prove it's number one. But on second thoughts, maybe the whole team thinks it's just a number.
