The irony of India's tears

The irony would probably have been lost on skipper MS Dhoni's Indian cricketers as they licked their wounds after losing the first Test against New Zealand by 40 runs at Eden Park in Auckland.

But the facts are that the team, which represents the country that is in the process of hijacking the International Cricket Council for its own ends, was beaten by one of the very countries its plans would relegate to the Test back- burner.

Irony number two was the manner in which India lost. Two controversial decisions sealed their fate. If the Decision Review System had been in force, those decisions might well have been reversed. But India refuses to use DRS because it feels the technology is unreliable.

So Kiwi left-arm fast bowler Neil Wagner - South African by birth - took four wickets as his team held off a counter-attacking India to win.