Day 4 - Absinth makes the heart grow fonder

Ok. We lost the match. In a nutshell it was a pathetic display. India played like they had hand grenades thrown at them. Ganguly continues to impress. Laxman looked good all too briefly. Sachin gave us another teaser, looking great while he was there, but then suddenly getting himself out. The future of Indian cricket (Yuvi and Dhoni looked lik they'd rather be somewhere else).

All in all, this Indian cricket team did not show any fight. Gave in to a less than hostile Australian attack. Fielded worse than Boycott's mum. The bowling was one bright spark. The contrast between the teams could not have been sharper. And then there are Bhajji's comments to put up with.... He needs to play a game as good as he talks it.

Kumble has a lot to think about. Who opens? Does he bring in Karthik with his record in England? Does he bring in Sehwag with his very poor recent domestic form but proven game changing capability? Who sits out? A class batsman like Dravid? Recent double centurion Jaffer? The future - Yuvi? And I haven't even mentioned the bowling line up! Clearly more questions than answers!!!!

India will have to show a lot of grit and character to not lose to a 4-0 whitewash here.

Cricket apart, today was great. The fact that we lost means we have an extra day to chill before we head to Sydney. After the loss, we trudged back to woop-woop (Aussie for a far away place) to our hotel for our evening nap. Headed out to Chappel Street for a quick bite followed by some serious clubbing.

Erinc, a good old friend and a Melbournian joined us in our exciting adventures. In fact, at some point in the evening, we went back to his place where he concocted some amazing cocktails for us! Thank you Erinc!!

Highlight of the evening was this very chic bar in the city we went to. Was on the 15th floor of a building. We were introduced to a sin called Absinth. 70% alcohol. Broken up with some caramelized sugar and a dash of cold water. And it was deadly. Lal has little memory of the sequence of events that followed. Including a conversation with some ladies where Erinc was proclaimed as Italian, Vikas asked one of the ladies to work on her Italian accent and Vikas being asked be her in return to work on his own. The night ended was Souvalaki's (kinda kebab wraps) in the city.

Tomorrow we'll probably check out some more of the city, say our goodbyes to Melbourne and head to Sydney - a city I really love!!