Virat Kohli batted at No.3 after playing a spot lower in the first three matches but his form didn’t change for the better. His scores in the tri-series were 9, 4, 3 not out and 8. (Source: AP)

Ajinkya Rahane had knocked the stumps down from that distance before. Even under pressure. Especially under pressure. He had done so while being prone on the floor too. Like he was here at the WACA when Jos Buttler scampered towards the striker’s end like his life depended on it off the penultimate delivery of the 22nd over. England were in the mire.

Their score read 72/5, and they’d lost four wickets in a hurry. Buttler was the enforcer. He was their last hope. But he was just on three.

Over the last 12 months, Rahane has been India’s most bankable cricketer. Almost to the extent that he can be compared to a film-star who you know will deliver a ‘hit’ whenever he ends up starring in a movie. It was his century that set up the Lord’s Test win. It was his century that completed the ODI series win in England. It was his century that played a huge role in India drawing the Boxing Day Test.

And he had stood like Hercules — a miniature version of him anyway — and held India afloat at the SCG.

All he had to here was to hit the target from 10 yards out. As the cliché goes, Buttler was not even in the frame. But he missed. He missed by a sizable margin. Rahane had top-scored earlier in the day.

But here he let Buttler get home. He was the obstacle that India needed out of the way. The target was still 129 runs away, and the WACA pitch was playing tricks. Taylor had stuck around, but was looking in no position to do this on his own.

Run-outs have a kind of debilitating effect on a team under pressure than even a ball knocking the stumps out don’t. If only Rahane had got the direct hit. It would have gone a long way, if not guaranteed, that India didn’t end their Australian tour without a single win to show for it. It was the balm they were looking for. To at least temporarily camouflage the debacles of the tour. But it wasn’t to be. Buttler would make them pay for the miss by scoring a power-packed 68, and putting on 125 in 23.2 overs with Taylor to take England home, and to finish India’s campaign with a loss. Just like it had begun in Adelaide in the second week of December.

When they landed here two months and a week ago, India were the envy of the cricketing world. They were after all privileged to spend two and a half months in a country that was to host the World Cup. Could a preparatory campaign for their trophy defence get any better?

It was like getting a teaser preview at the question papers before appearing for the examination, without them having to be leaked either. That was the third week of November. By the last week of January, they have ended with more questions than answers. What was to be the springboard for a glorious Australian summer has turned into a reality check instead. A reality check of where they stand. A reality check of the labyrinth of issues that haunt Indian cricket, especially when they are on foreign soil.

Twelve months ago, MS Dhoni & Co. had embarked on a journey to South Africa, which in many ways was a journey of rediscovery. A young team buzzing with talent but with unproven potential. But three winless tours later, India are back at the brink. This might be premature still to start predicting about World Cup outcomes. But it’s safe to say that this time Dhoni’s army doesn’t fill you with the same confidence like should have been the case.

Their tour had started with their bowlers struggling to find their length. It ended with their batsmen having lost their stride. A diminutive batsman had handed out a rude welcome to them on their first day on tour. And it was a diminutive batsman who came between them and victory on the final day. Even if David Warner might have been like a prize-fighter as compared to the more gentler strokes that Taylor downed India with.

Shikhar Dhawan had started the tour with a couple of failures in Adelaide. On Friday, he struck his first boundary in a month and three days. He even made 38. But he looked as unconvincing in his final essay as he did in his first. Virat Kohli was the toast of the Test series, and it started with a pair of centuries in Adelaide. But he’s only looked more and more insecure as the whites have given way to blues.

India were unsure of their pace attack and their lead spinner for the first Test. India are unsure about their pace attack and their lead spinner after the final ODI. Incidentally, the pick of their bowlers at the WACA was Mohit Sharma, who’s not even part of the World Cup squad. And it was symbolic that their survival came down to one attempted throw at the stumps from one man who has rarely let them down all summer. Except on this occasion.

The Perth sky has a dreamy hue to it on most nights. On Friday night it was covered by clouds, dark ones. It mirrored India’s campaign Down Under. But you can expect the hue to return come Saturday. At the end of another tour, where victories kept eluding them, India can only hope that the dark clouds that shroud them presently drift away soon.