Indian cricket team was distracted: Australian media

       India let themselves down in their attempt to match the aggression of the Australians: Greg Baum 

Having been at the receiving end of the Australians in the first two Tests in Adelaide and Brisbane, the visiting Indian cricket team has come under more attack, this time from the Australian media, which has branded the tourists complaints as 'excessive and distracting'.

India were beaten by a slender 48-run margin in the first Test in Adelaide and succumbed to a 4-wicket loss at the Gabba, Brisbane. Having observed restraint right through the tour, the visitors anger over the lack of fresh practice wickets as well as problems over food reached a breaking point, leading to distractions ahead of the crucial fourth day's play. The tourists were reduced to 87/5 from a healthy 71/1, completely undoing all their hard work.

While Mitchell Johnson was the wrecker-in-chief, taking the wickets of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma, the Australian media focused on the siege mentality that had engulfed the Indians.

"Not only do the numbers not lie, they act as a self-fulfilling prophecy. This was Australia's 10th win in a row at home, and their 14th in the last 17, with only one defeat. This was India's fifth away defeat in a row, and their 15th in the last 18, with only one win," Fairfax Media's Greg Baum wrote. "For every touring team, every summer, there is a time, a place and a breaking point. On Saturday, it was the Gabba nets, before play," he further added.

Skipper, MS Dhoni, blamed the state of Gabba's practice wickets for injuries sustained by Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli and said it had unsettled the batsmen ahead of their collapse on the fourth morning. "Immediately, a siege mentality settled on the Indian camp, which protested the standard of the practice pitches, also the lack of a gym, and in their paranoia refused even to divulge which bowler or bowlers had inflicted the damage," Baum said.

"They trail (in the series) because of tails, failing to extract runs from their own bottom order or restrain Australia's. Perhaps in trying to match Australia's machismo, they have been excitable, excessive and distracted," he added.

Former Australian captain and Channel Nine commentator, Ian Chappell, blasted the Indian captain for his comments and said Dhoni's remarks after having lost the match could be misunderstood as 'whingeing'.

"That's the sort of thing (practice wickets) you might bitch about in the dressing room," Chappell told Channel Nine. "When you come out with a statement like that, particularly after you've lost a few wickets in the morning, it looks like whingeing," he added.

In his column for 'The Australian', Gideon Heigh reserved special praise for newly appointed captain, Steven Smith. "Everywhere you looked in this game, there was Smith. He marshaled Australia well through an inhospitable first day, repaired their innings on the second day, secured them a lead on the third. On the fourth morning, he looked astonishingly assured," Haigh said. "For the last Ashes tour he was the last man picked; for the next he will be the first," he further wrote.