'It's been a slippery dip for Australia'

Batting icon Sachin Tendulkar and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni were among the four Indian cricketers who found a place in former Australia captain Ian Chappell's '2010 World XI', which did not feature a single Aussie.
Dashing opener Virender Sehwag and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan were the other two Indians in the XI, which features five South Africans.
"Four years ago the Australian cricket team was cock-a-hoop. They'd regained the Ashes and had accentuated their superiority by smashing England at the MCG on the way to an eventual 5-0 series victory. Now the team is in tatters and it's best illustrated by a comparison of World XIs chosen at the end of the calendar year," Chappell wrote in his column for 'The Daily Telegraph'.
"In 2006, Australia had six players in the XI, with Brett Lee 12th man. In the 2010 side, no Australian made the XI and Shane Watson is the 12th man," he pointed out.
"It's been a slippery dip for Australia since the retirement of bowlers Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. The ride gathered pace when Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden called it a day. They have now hit the sand pit because of the struggles of the one player who kept the brake on the downhill ride, Ricky Ponting," he further explained.