Swing 038; swagger at Mohali

There8217;s a definite temptation to zoom in on individual achievements but India8217;s victory over Sri Lanka on Friday was about much mo...

There8217;s a definite temptation to zoom in on individual achievements but India8217;s victory over Sri Lanka on Friday was about much more than Pathan8217;s prodigious swing, Tendulkar8217;s blazing start upfront, Dravid8217;s assured leadership and even Greg 8216;Gandalf8217; Chappell.

It was about a group of 20-somethings discovering the joy of cricket, the fun that comes with playing a game so well at the highest level. This was as close to perfection that India have achieved in recent times, and they loved every minute of it.

There were contributions from the usual suspects 8212; more on that later 8212; and from the quiet, unassuming JP Yadav, who8217;s 60 deliveries included an astonishing 40 dot balls. His age 8212; 31 8212; doesn8217;t fit the Chappell profile but his attitude and work ethic do.

Nothing low-key about Tendulkar, who confirmed yet again that he8217;s among the few public figures who can make a nation smile. The crown of captaincy may not have fit him best but the mantle of mentor rests secure. While fielding, he was talking to the bowlers, consulting with his captain, always there with a word and a smile.

As a batsman, his complete range of attacking strokes were back on display 8212; paddle sweep, pull, lofted shots and booming straight drive. If you missed it at Nagpur, you could catch the repeat here today though you8217;d miss it again if you8217;d blinked.

He brought the curtains down on this no-contest with a heave past Murali8217;s head, fittingly in the company of Rahul Dravid.

Act I Scene I, though, was all Irfan Pathan. Not long ago he was struggling with his rhythm and swing, and his ability to bowl on sub-continental conditions was questioned. He began the series with an efficient performance that was overshadowed by his batting, but his bowling came back with a bang today.

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His eight overs on the trot got him four wickets and rocked the Lankans, leaving Harbhajan and the others the simple task of pushing them over. For the trivia buffs, Lanka were bowled out in 35.4 overs, the same as at Nagpur.

At this point in an admittedly lengthy series, there8217;s only one team in the contest. Marvan Atapattu clearly said India were playing much better cricket, his team would have to dig deep and believe in themselves to get back into the series.

For their part, Chappell and Dravid warned against the 8216;8216;tendency to get carried away with hands down victories like this8217;8217;. Today, though, just for today, Team India would be forgiven for getting carried away. And for carrying their fans away with them.

SCOREBOARD

	nbsp;	Sri Lanka: K Sangakkara c Tendulkar b Pathan 27, S Jayasuriya c Sehwag b Pathan 0, M Atapattu c Dhoni b Agarkar 4, M Jayawardene c Rao b Pathan 7, R Arnold c Dravid b Harbhajan Singh 15, T Dilshan lbw Pathan 0, F Maharoof c Yuvraj Singh b Yadav 18, C Vaas run out 7, U Chandana not out 19, N Zoysa lbw Yadav 0, M Muralitharan b Harbhajan Singh 15, Extras lb-2, w-8 10; Total all out, 35.4 overs 122. Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-13, 3-33, 4-54, 554, 6-71, 7-80, 8-104, 9-104. Bowling: Irfan Pathan 8-0-37-4, Ajit Agarkar 7-1-27-1, Jai Prakash Yadav 10-1-32-2, Harbhajan Singh 6.4-1-19-2, Murali Kartik 4-1-5-0. India: V Sehwag c038;b Maharoof 38, S Tendulkar not out 70, J P Yadav lbw Muralitharan 9, R Dravid not out 2, Extras lb-3, w-4 7; Total for 2 wkts, 20.2 overs 126. Fall of wickets: 1-80, 2-115. Bowling: Vaas 3-0-22-0, Zoysa 4-0-37-0, Muralitharan 7.2-0-35-1, Maharoof 3-0-19-1, Dilshan 3-0-10-0.	nbsp;