In 2015, AB De Villiers' side including someone of the class of Faf Du Plessis and Hasim Amla failed to fire big. Then came the Kiwis and the English, with batsmen of the flair and exuberance of Kane Williamson, Alistair Cook, Martin Guptill and, Joe Root. It was India again, winning with elan.

However, just when Pune's dismal loss had signaled Australia working up a wonder, India struck back fair and square in Bengaluru courtesy a memorable win spun by Ashwin and Jadeja - two of India's most electrifying and imposing competitors. And this leads to a question. Were the Australian batsmen really adept at handling India's nasty spinners? How bankable are Steve Smith's men against spin, especially blokes like Peter Handscomb and Mitch Marsh who have played very limited cricket against India?

So in this regard, the only plausible speculation is that did Australia bungle up their chances by not picking someone like George Bailey? Would Australia have fared better having George Bailey around over Mitch Marsh, whose average of 22 didn't just look modest but it didn't exactly help Australia's cause? For starters, it could be said that 34-year-old Bailey perhaps won't have looked the part of a handy bat especially having not played a Test since 2014. His last 5-day run came against England, in the fifth Ashes Test at Sydney. Despite the Aussies clinching the match by a huge margin of 281 runs, Bailey didn't contribute much - 1 and 46 in his two outings with the bat. However, the 46 looks like a much better statistic than the 0 and 13 Marsh could manage in Bengaluru.

A mere look at Bailey's international record against India would open biased eyes. Bailey has played some exceptional knocks against India - that too in India's den. While it could be argued that an experience of 5 Tests doesn't even substantiate a potential discussion but having a handy ODI experience against a top ranked side augurs well for some consideration. Bailey has had a vast international experience of playing in India than guys like Mathew Wade, Nathan Lyon, Peter Handscomb and off course, Mitch Marsh. From 13 innings, Bailey garnered a whopping 710 ODI runs, batting on turning and bouncy wickets of Mumbai, Bangalore, and Gujarat. Apart from scoring a scintillating recent hundred against India in Australia in 2016, a match-winning 112, his personal best came against Virat Kohli's men as well. A charismatic 156, scored at Nagpur came off just 114 balls with the right-hander creaming likes of Shami, Jadeja and even Ashwin to all sides of the park.

With a strong bottom-hand technique and an appetite to score freely, Bailey is adept at both - playing the role of a watchful accumulator in the mid innings and that of an aggressor when the asking rates point skyward.

So much of a difference could've been brought to Steve Smith's current contingent in India by inclusion of George 'the dependable' Bailey that it might at the face of it, even seem an outside chance, but when you look beyond the veneer of the man's resplendent character - a potent offering that Australia failed to realize.