Wednesday, July 17, 2002 Three nights after the great night, it's time for some perspective and realism, if we can bring ourselves to it. There are no two ways about India's victory in the NatWest Series final: to anyone who has watched India wilt in nine finals before, to see Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh knock off those runs was a cathartic experience. Indian cricket needed this lift; it's a win that could be potentially liberating.

No longer will a team consider winning the toss against India in an important match half the battle won. India chased not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times. On each of these occasions, they wobbled, they teetered and looked fated to sink: at Lord's they were 141 for 4 chasing 271; at The Oval they were 135 for 5 chasing 203; at Edgbaston, they were 59 for 4 chasing 188 and again at Lord's they were 146 for 5 chasing 325. For a team that specialised in losing from far happier situations, expecting better would have only been inviting heartburn.

But miraculously, India found deliverance each time: on every occasion two players stood up and played like men. Twice it was Rahul Dravid, given up as a one-day player many times over and a certainty in the team only because he agreed to keep; twice it was Mohammad Kaif, unarguably the best fielder in the side, but a 21-year old whose skill and temperament has yet to be tested; and four times, it was Yuvraj Singh, barely 20, but already a veteran of three comebacks. They fought and retrieved like we haven't seen Indian cricketers do in the last couple of years, and it was stirring.

If India go on to scale bigger heights from here, this series will go down as a watershed: as the one that taught India how to chase, how to hold nerve and how never to give in and one in which it grew up.

But really, if is the operational word. There are plenty of reasons to believe that this performance was real, but in the context of world cricket, it only implies that India can now claim to be at the top of level B, marginally ahead of England and New Zealand and a few notches ahead of Sri Lanka and West Indies. This team looks capable of performing at the peak of its ability which is a big leap by itself, considering that the Indians have been consistent underachievers. However, Australia, South Africa and Pakistan remain the elite teams and India will have to prove themselves against one of these sides before they can be considered a serious contender for the World Cup.

While according the credit due to Indian batsmen, it will not be out of place to point out that the bowling was consistently poor throughout the NatWest Series. Ronnie Irani and Dilhara Fernando were the best bowlers India faced and that tells the story. India twice chased huge scores against England who dished out trash in the last 10 overs. Matthew Hoggard is an honest swing bowler who will be a handful in seaming conditions with a few slips in place. But on pitches full of runs, his length is a perfect invitation to front-foot players. Alex Tudor and James Kirtley would struggle to get into most one-day sides in the world, and Darren Gough, England's best and most experienced bowler, dished out a shockingly loose over to Kaif when the final still hung in balance.

Without Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lankan bowling was not only soulless but also spineless. Chaminda Vaas and Dilhara Fernando troubled the Indian batsmen on a bowler's pitch at Edgbaston, but that was their best performance in the series. Otherwise, they were listless, indisciplined and showed neither skill nor application. An attack that fails to defend 241 in 32 overs, as Sri Lanka did against England, can hardly be called an attack.

The real test for Indian batsmen will come when they need to chase eight an over against Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie or Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar. Not to mention Brett Lee and Saqlain Mushtaq.

The day after India's win at Lord's full-page advertisements were released in India's leading newspapers to gloat over the achievement. But then, sponsors will be sponsors. Luckily, Sourav Ganguly hasn't lost perspective yet. When an enthusiastic Indian reporter asked him to compare this win to 1983, Ganguly kept a straight face and said: "That was the World Cup, and this was the NatWest Series."

Sambit Bal is editor of Wisden.com India and Wisden Asia Cricket magazine.

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