Sourav Ganguly and India deserved to win. They had been the best team in the NatWest Series, but midway through their run-chase, memories of nine-in-a-row must have come flooding back to Ganguly. He had been part of all nine of those finals defeats, and the glum face he presented at the balcony gave the disappointment away. At 146 for 5 after 24 overs, it looked all over. The bowlers had given it away at the start, then Nasser Hussain had ridden on large chunks of luck to score a century, and finally, the Indian batsmen had thrown away a splendid start, losing five wickets for 38 runs after being 108 without loss. Sachin Tendulkar had failed in another final, Rahul Dravid had his poorest game of the tournament, and a familiar story was being repeated.

Then, it all changed. Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif carried none of the baggage which seemed to bog down the more senior members of the team. And together, they scripted arguably the best comeback in a one-day international.

Yuvraj had played matchwinning knocks before, and Kaif was a spunky cricketer with plenty of gumption and a fine, mature head, but surely an ask of almost seven an over, over a stretch of 26 overs, should have daunted them.

If it did, they showed no trace of that as they calmly set about rebuilding the damage. Impressively, they showed none of the desperation that had afflicted some of the others.

Yuvraj provided the early impetus, stroking the ball with the power and fluency that we've now come to expect, but Kaif was a revelation. He'd sometimes been too impetuous, both with his running between wickets and his shotmaking, but today he was admirably restrained in the first part of his innings, scoring at almost a run a ball without taking chances. When Yuvraj left and Kaif needed to move it up a gear, he did that too. All the while, he showed the temperament of a veteran.

Importantly, their matchwinning performance has given Indian cricket the self-belief that it had been desperately lacking. For too long, the team had shown plenty of flair, but had buckled at the first trace of pressure. This win ensured that India would go into their next finals not worried by The Jinx, but with a self-belief that they could raise their game to match the occasion. That the run-chase was fashioned by the young brigade – and not by a Tendulkar or a Dravid – makes it all the more special.

If India had plenty of plusses to take away from this match, then they needed to keep an eye on the minuses too. The new-ball pair of Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan continued to flounder in finals. In four of the last five finals when India bowled first, they had allowed the opposition to score 290 or more. Nehra played in two of those matches, going for 125 runs in 19 overs; Zaheer played three and conceded 174 in 28. Here again, Nehra spoiled the good work he had done earlier in the tournament, mixing the corridor deliveries with enough loose balls for the batsmen to make merry. Zaheer's spirit while bowling at the death was exemplary, and he started off with a rare maiden, but his performance in his first spell ensured that the new-ball attack remained an area of concern.

Dravid at last had a poor match behind the stumps, dropping a couple of chances and fumbling far too many takes. He was entitled to an off-day after some nifty glovework earlier in the competition, but that's the peril of opting for a part-time keeper. At the end of the day, the two young turks ensured that none of that mattered. India can take pride in the character shown by the new breed of cricketers. It augurs well for the future.

S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com in India.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd