Majestic in Multan

Indeed. It’s hard to remember, given the batting of Dhoni, Yuvraj, Dravid and Sachin, that all those successful run-chases were possible because the formidable Pakistani batting line-up was first kept in check.

On Thursday, it was Rudra Pratap Singh who wreaked havoc picking up four wickets to send Pakistan reeling after being put in to bat. He doesn’t bang it down like Zaheer Khan or show signs of effort on his face while running in; RP is blessed with a natural, easy action and even though he’s medium fast, he gets the bowl to move appreciably either side.

‘‘This series has given me a lot of confidence and I will carry that to the next series (against England)’’, he said.

RP, into his first year of international cricket, is different from his more illustrious left-hand colleagues. “I just think about my role in the side and try to do that. Coming in first-change, I wanted to contain runs and we all work together well in a combination.”

That is the key to the plan working well. The focus was always on the set of bowlers to bowl well together. The wickets today were spread among all five bowlers, and RP’s four were as precious as the ones, twos and threes of his teammates.

‘‘There’s no magic wand’’, said coach Greg Chappell. ‘‘We go out every day and try to achieve something; it’s an ongoing process to think positively and try out new ideas day in and day out. Just because we have done well or won the series doesn’t mean we can sit back and relax.’’

Today’s success is the result of the bowlers constantly working on ideas to stop the flow of runs. During the five-day break in Rawalpindi last week, the coach and analyst ‘Ramki’ Ramakrishnan sat down with all the bowlers and gave them a set of instructions and plan of action.

Then followed a series of drills to attain that perfect line and length; still, there were quite a few going down leg side. So the backroom boys started working on the bowlers’ minds, telling them that success was just round the corner.

So while the critics were writing off the bowling resources after Peshawar, the team was simply moving on to the next level.

That paid off immediately. Witness Salman Butt: after the century in Peshawar he’s been locked up in the slips, and Mohammad Yousuf’s snicks have become a regular feature of Pakistan’s innings.

Leg-stump line, effective use of the short-pitched ball, putting the ball on the ‘short of a length’ spot and in that line of stumps, the right mix of inswingers and slower deliveries, effective field placing; the bowlers did all this, and on wickets tailor-made for attacking strokes.

And before you think it’s all down to video and technology, here’s what Ramki had to say after the win. ‘‘Watching tapes is just one way of doing it… But ultimately the bowlers are alone on the field, they have to do it on their own. When the plans work, it’s to their credit.’’

There was one other leitmotif in India’s win: The sheer youthfulness of this side. ‘‘Ignore youth at your own peril’’, said Chappell, and he’s practiced what he preaches. The big contributions to this series victory have come from likes of Irfan Pathan (nine wickets in four matches), Dhoni, Yuvraj (39, 82 not out, 79 not out and 37), Raina, RP Singh (seven wickets in two matches).

And Sreesanth, who typifies what this team is about: he’s been hit, seen catches go down, yet he’s bowled his heart out at sharp pace with the new ball and impressed with his slog over spells.

Today, it would have all been worth it.