India's fielding and front-foot no-balling in the Boxing Day Test has been disappointing and in the Weekend Australian, Peter Lalor examines the issue.

There are players in the Indian side who appear as if they spent their lives telling others to pick things up for them. They see the ball approaching their ankles and like royalty look up as if to summon a servant to fetch the blasted thing. Alas, good help is hard to find in the middle of a cricket match and the moment has past by the time the servant has made his way up the stairs.

In the same paper Mike Coward says Anil Kumble's honeymoon period as India's captain is over.

Peter Roebuck writes in the Age that India have played well in patches but have made too many mistakes to beat Australia, while his colleague Greg Baum argues that there is nothing particularly wrong with the MCG drop-in pitch.