Australia needed less than an hour on Saturday to wrap matters up. Resuming on 166 for six, India's lower-order nudged the score up to 201 before folding. There was a wicket each on Saturday for Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Nathan Lyon. But so well-knit has this bowling unit been, particularly the seamers, that it doesn't seem to matter who takes the wickets. They just keep coming.
The mini-session was an illustration of why Australia has had such success this series. Michael Clarke had spoken before the fourth Test of his side's quest — to treat it not like a dead rubber, but like a fresh Test that needed to be won at all costs. His team responded with the intensity the task demanded.
The bowling was disciplined, but not lacking imagination. The deliveries that had Wriddhiman Saha and Ishant Sharma nicking behind would have troubled any of the top order. They landed in awkward areas, asking two fundamental questions of a batsman's judgement — front or back foot? Play or leave? They also moved just enough, testing his skill. The fielding never let up, not even with victory so close.

Confused
From India, the cricket remained, at least in part, confused. Zaheer Khan batted like he should have all series, if he was to bat at nine, above Ishant. Instead of swiping at every ball, while withdrawing outside leg-stump, he chose his moment. But it wasn't Zaheer's batting that lost India the Border-Gavaskar Trophy; it was the failure of the top six.
And that's the most unsettling aspect of these eight defeats: while the sixth batsman, Virat Kohli, was — along with Umesh Yadav — the most heartening story of the tour, the other five, who must rate as perhaps the best collective India has put together, didn't come close to batting to potential.
They had their moments, yes, but isolated moments, however luminous they may be.
The batsmen left the bowlers next to nothing to work with. While the bowlers aren't above criticism, they more than outdid the batsmen, showing at stages in Melbourne and Perth that they can attain world-class penetration, especially if the conditions conspire.

Accuracy
Umesh, Ishant and Ashwin struggled with consistency, with stringing an over of six threatening balls together.
Accuracy is both a physical and mental skill, and they'll have to find a way to quickly improve if they want to regularly bowl sides out.
They'd have been better bowlers, however, with runs as collateral, or a more imaginative captain.
The catching will haunt India. This side was never going to be the flashest of ground-fielding units, but solid catching had played a vital part in its rise to No. 1. When Rahul Dravid dropped Michael Hussey off Ashwin on the third evening of the first Test, it was a point of inflection in a contest that had until then been extremely close.
Where does all of this leave Indian cricket? The administration needs to ask itself two simple questions. Does India want to be the best Test side in the world, which entails winning consistently both home and away? And is this the all-consuming priority?

Straightforward path
If the answer to both questions is yes, the path is reasonably straightforward. Not simple, but straightforward. There is the short term to deal with, a batting transition that must involve the greats not distance them, but the long term mustn't be lost sight of.
Gather India's finest cricket minds, allow them to independently discuss the issues that need discussing: pitches; domestic structure; scheduling; positioning of the formats; player-development; the importance of experiencing county cricket in England.
These have been written about and discussed several times before. The ideas are out there, many of them sound, some needing refinement so they are suitably nuanced.
The difference this time has to be commitment and execution. England and Australia have shown how things can be turned around.
For all the criticism it receives, the BCCI has proven to be incredibly successful once it puts its collective mind to something.
A long-lasting, dominant Indian Test side, with a back-up system to ensure the inevitable cyclical downturns are swiftly overcome, must be its primary ambition; nothing less.