As I write, it is the third day of the Delhi Test match and India having posted a 600 plus score is trying mighty hard to impose themselves on Australia on a turning pitch. With a 1-0 lead already in the bag, things couldn?t have been better for Indian fans. However, fans don?t believe in watching this absorbing cricket contest it seems. A stadium with a capacity of 45,000 hardly has 5,000 spectators watching India go for the kill. A country which claims to be the new nerve center of global cricket has just not managed to fill a single stadium in this series. If Banglore was at least half full Mohali was nothing short of a disgrace. Delhi has now inflicted more pain on India?s new found reputation. With a fascination for only 20-20 cricket, India seems to be like the brash new rich with new found wealth rather than the ultimate pedigreed connoisseur who has an all round appreciation for the sport.. What this series has in effect done is that it has raised serious questions about India?s claim to be cricket?s new global head quarter. Because we control global cricket?s finances, can we aspire to be cricket?s new nerve centre? This question is especially pertinent because Indians hardly ever venture out to see domestic fixtures like the Ranji or Duleep Trophy, nor do they show any keenness in watching other great cricket contests like the Ashes. While the IPL, and to some extent the ICL, have certainly captured the nation?s imagination, it seems we are too enamoured by these to appreciate the mother of all cricket rivalries.

From the evidence at hand, a near empty stadium in Mohali and a quarter full Kotla, despite India recording one of its best victories of all time at Mohali, it can be suggested that the ongoing series has dent a serious blow to India?s claim to being the leading cricketing nation in the world. This argument gathers strength if we look at England, where cricket is a poor fourth in the popularity charts in comparison to rugby, tennis and now the Olympics. Even then, Test cricket has its niche audience. Hence, we have full or near-full houses every time India plays there. Tickets for the Ashes, scheduled for July-September 2009, are already nearly sold out and the ECB is gearing up for a windfall cricket season.

In Australia, too, during the 2007-08 India-Australia Test series, most grounds witnessed near-capacity crowds during the four Test matches. While the Boxing Day Test saw a crowd of 70,000-plus on days one and two, Sydney was packed to capacity in the New Year Test. Perth and Adelaide, too, had their fair share of crowds. By contrast, Eden Gardens, which has traditionally been a venue where no seat is left empty, was more than half empty when Pakistan played India in November 2007. Coming at the back of India?s T20 triumph in the inaugural World Cup in South Africa, this statistic is most worrisome. If Eden Gardens was considered an aberration, Mohali has drawn attention to a serious crisis the game faces in India. It is time to realise that Indian cricket, unfortunately, is riding a T-20 bubble, which like the dotcom boom will only last years if not months. And if Test cricket is not supported by fans, the game might soon be forced to leave its new found home even before the construction was complete and the homecoming ceremony duly celebrated.

The alarm appears real because this series is the last where India?s Fab Four are donning national colours together. The least Indian fans could have done is to fill the grounds in saluting their achievements. Every Australian ground was packed to capacity in honour of Adam Gilchrist once he had made public his intention to retire at the end of the India series earlier this year. And Steve Waugh?s retirement Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2004 was historic. Such emotionalism has hardly ever been witnessed in cricket. India?s Fab Four deserved no less. Yet, what greeted Sachin Tendulkar?s 12,000th run was a near empty stadium with some school kids forced to sit through a scorching afternoon. In a country, which claims to be cricket?s new home, the chance to watch them in action for the last few times should be unrivalled. Unfortunately it wasn?t.

There are two enthralling contests lined up over the next week yet again. The first will be played between two of the world?s leading cricket teams and it is one in which the Indians certainly have had the upper hand in this series. The second is no less serious a contest involving millions of Indian cricket fans and their ability to appreciate all forms of the game. Needless to say we are facing a knockout situation here. Here?s hoping the trend is finally reversed in Nagpur.

The writer is a cricket historian