India goes into a series of six white-ball matches in the first week of February against the West Indies, but we seem tethered to the double whammy incurred in South Africa, the limited-overs defeats apparently more hurtful than the narrower 1-2 loss in the Tests.

Social media has had varied expressions of juvenile impatience and irrational rage added to it since the sundry setbacks than when the blows actually landed, with Virat Kohli’s scores on the tour proving reason enough for his admirers to make the point that if he hadn’t been stripped of his one-day captaincy, everything would have been hunky-dory.

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Truth to tell, a lot of us, denied the anticipated opportunity for the national navel-gazing that a dual triumph would have given us, are now letting off steam, precluding an accurate acknowledgement of our real deficiency. There is a certain shrill querulousness in the air which, in a way, seeks to unseat logic. It has outlived India’s announcement of their squad for the West Indies matches in Ahmedabad and Kolkata, indicating the games will be played in an atmosphere not designed for innocent entertainment, at least cerebrally. Some strains endure.

Instant encomia, or condemnation, could well be the temptation few would resist. Not that it happens to be so for the first time in history, but it shows how intemperate we can be when there is quite a gulf between our aspirations and our experience. We had thought we would wring South Africa’s neck but ended up wringing our own hands, hence the anguished outcry, even if coloured by parochial sentiments, against personal targets. But India didn’t really fall face down because of how Ravichandran Ashwin bowled in the two limited-overs matches he was granted. India mostly batted unacceptably badly. And they have been doing so since quite a while ago, allowing the world frequent glimpses of their frailty even when happy results served to shift attention from persistent lacunae.

It occasionally marked their truly historic back-to-back Test series-winning performances in Australia, and it recurred in the World Test Championship final. The difference this time around, of course, was that India were keeling over against a team without any world-class bowler other than Kagiso Rabada but, having permitted themselves frequent slides in the past, the question was whether spectacular descents had become their second nature.

Most importantly, India’s batting seems to be excessively vulnerable in the absence of someone who, with a stable partner around, can guide it past crises. Personal landmarks, good as they are in themselves, had better lead to collective success, which makes it worth everyone’s while. Bowlers shouldn’t have to do twice as well as their batting brethren. It’s time we took a look at the Caribbeans and what they have done against England at home. Twenty20, after all, is a great leveller and our worthies look like they don’t appreciate being put through the wringer.