India's finest Test win!

India's momentous victory in the Chennai Test Match against England has redefined cricketing beliefs and theories, in many ways. Even against a rookie off-spinner, Graeme Swann, and an off-colour left arm spinner, Monty Panesar, it should have been impossible to chase 387 runs on a turning Indian pitch. That it wasn't, is a tribute not only to the cricketing skills of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir, but also to the sheer grit and never-say-die attitude displayed by Dhoni's team.

Not one cricket lover or player in his right mind would have really believed that India could chase the 4th highest total ever, on a wearing Chennai pitch. Certainly not after having looked insipid and out of sorts as a team for most of the Test till then. Only MS Dhoni himself and Harbhajan Singh, with their doughty partnership in the first innings, had shown some resolve in the match till the third session of the fourth day. Sehwag , as we already knew, was not one to worry about theories or traditions. He went about his batting as if the target was just 87 and not 300 runs more than that! Virender Sehwag exemplifies the confident young India that fears none. Sehwag, the Delhi Daredevil, displayed both power and panache to play in a manner hitherto unknown in such a situation. When asked by Ravi Shastri later whether he had any negative bone in his body, pat came the reply from Sehwag. "Not at all"!

Even so, despite his dare-devilry, and his quicker-than-one-could-blink 83 runs, we
thought it was too good to be true. Chasing 256 runs in 90 overs on the last day seems easy on paper, but we thought we knew better. It couldn't be done, surely! How wrong we were! Rahul Dravid, India's hero in many a victory in the past, nicked a gem from Andrew Flintoff to Matt Prior's gloves and one felt the beginnings of a sinking feeling once again. Each ball that Tendulkar faced in his superb innings was nerve-wracking simply because we knew that he had to be there till the end, and we weren't sure whether he would be. No praise is too high for Gautam Gambhir either. He not only puts a price on his wicket, he also scores his runs at a fair clip.
The match-winning qualities that India now seems to possess in abundance came to the
fore during Tendulkar's partnership with Yuvraj. Each of them had a point to prove on
the day, which they surely did. And how! Tendulkar and Yuvraj rewrote the rules for
chasing a tall score in a Test match. They batted as if they were playing a first innings, with no apparent tension. Tendulkar inspired, cajoled, counseled and even bullied Yuvraj into ensuring that not false shot was played. Once when Yuvraj lofted a flighted one into no-man's land Tendulkar ran to him to plead with Yuvraj to stay till the end. Easier said than done! But that is precisely what Yuvraj did, with an exhibition of controlled aggression in contrast to Tendulkar's restrained, no-risk batting.

Tendulkar has been known to feel the pressure of a chase. He too is human after all. But is he really? The way in which he changed his natural genius-like game to play an almost Dravid-like, wall-like, innings, proved that he has the resolve and the ability to change gear at will even after 19 years of non-stop cricketing exploits. He shook off many a demon with this knock an I suspect that he would always treat it as his very best, both in terms of the result and in terms of handling the pressure (of all kinds) that it was played under. He is truly a great champion and an idol for the youth of the whole world, for he combines greatness with grace.

The England team must feel a little robbed. They had done everything that was necessary to win the match, till India's 4th innings tour-de-force did them in! The fact that the whole series was earlier in question, with all the security issues, and yet England managed to play as well as they did, goes to their immense credit.
A player who hits a brilliant shot and falls to the catch-of-the-century feels the same way that England must feel as of now, for they gave it their very best and yet came out second-best. India indeed played the innings of the century in their second-knock. Even under MS Dhoni's inspiring leadership they will find it extremely difficult to match in the near future the sheer brilliance and character that led them to the mother-of-all victories in the Chennai Test!