Not convincing, but a win nevertheless

In the past, they have been victims of such deliveries on bouncier tracks, and the opposition have exploited that weakness to the hilt.

After being 20 for 3 while chasing 146, the Indians, especially Rahul Dravid, must be thanking their stars, for the Kiwi wicketkeeper, McCullum, dropped the simplest of catches I have ever seen. I shudder to imagine what would have happened had he taken that.

I like the way Mohamad Kaif is shaping up. What was heartening was that he took it upon himself to guide the team to a winning position just when everything depended on his batting prowess. He is a superb judge of a run, and is the quickest and the fittest player in the team. As for Rahul Dravid, as he has been doing over the years, he played his part to perfection.

Now, what a day the Indian bowlers had! They looked well-oiled, rhythmic, extremely fit and, more importantly, hungry for wickets. It augurs well for them.

At present, the Indians can proudly boast of the fact that if Srinath cannot get you, Zaheer or Nehra will. The Indians have never found themselves in such a commanding position.

The Kiwis caught the Indians on the back foot on bouncier, seamer-friendly wickets back home recently. They certainly felt that they had the psychological advantage over the Indians. However, they must consider themselves a wee bit unlucky not to have pulled this off. In the end, they were simply done in by a team that is not only playing its best cricket ever, but also extremely high on confidence.