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The odds must have been heavily stacked against India when they were 141/4 - Sachin Tendulkar (1) among the men dismissed - in the 28th over while chasing an imposing target of 272. But a remarkable display of determination and intelligent batting by Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh helped India to a comprehensive six-wicket win over England.

I have always admired the grit and determination of Dravid, and on Saturday at Lord's, he batted like a man in complete control, pacing his innings very well and sealing the win with a flourish. It was so good to see the experience of Dravid and the exuberance of Yuvraj Singh combining so well to put together the match- winning unbeaten 131-run partnership for the fifth wicket. After all, it is partnerships that make a huge difference when chasing a big total.

Perhaps, the English were a bit complacent after their victory over Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge the other day. They seemed to have under-estimated the strength of the Indian batting.

Nasser Hussain's strategy of batting first must have been to put the psychological pressure on the tourists after piling on a big score. This was a good idea given the fact that he has only a second-string pace attack after both Darren Gough and Andy Caddick were rendered hors de combat.

The plan seemed to be working to perfection, with the two openers Marcus Trescothick and Nick Knight batting confidently and scoring ever so freely. The Indian tour selection committee played into their hands by playing just two fast bowlers.

I was shocked to see Ashish Nehra dropped from the squad. Nehra is one bowler who has the ability to swing the ball both ways and to have sacrificed him to play an extra batsman was a big mistake.

Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar were all over the place with the new ball and the only way India could have got a breakthrough at that early stage was through a run out - and that was exactly what happened. Agarkar, it might be observed, is a much better bowler with the old ball when he can generate reverse swing. It will be prudent to look back to the fact that England could only score 29 runs off the final five overs, when Zaheer Khan and Agarkar bowled exceptionally well. That made a huge difference to the target India were finally asked to chase.

England definitely were guilty of not driving home their early advantage. Andrew Flintoff, Hussain and Graham Thorpe were all guilty of throwing their wickets away. England finished with 271, which clearly looked to be about 20-25 runs less than what they could have scored on a belter of a track. And the limited bowling options at their disposal meant that they had to pay a heavy price for it in the afternoon.

Virender Sehwag is a batsman in form and the English bowlers must have already noted that fact. The way he eased into playing the strokes was a sheer joy to watch. Ganguly also complemented the young dashing batsman well and runs kept flowing at a rapid pace. The English attack was made to look very ordinary indeed as Lord's witnessed one of the best exhibitions of stroke-making.

Ashley Giles showed the pundits that the spinners have a pivotal role to play in limited-overs cricket. The basic principle for any spinner is to get the ball to turn in the first place; one needs to only look at the success of Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne to accept this fact. Giles got the ball to grip and turn on a flat track; he used the bowlers' footmarks cleverly to his advantage. Apart from his first and last over of his ten- overs-spell, Giles had a very good evening with the ball.

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So too did Ronnie Irani, who showed how difficult it is for the batsman to score if the ball moves off the wicket. Irani with his disciplined bowling thoroughly deserved the wicket of Tendulkar.

I am very pleased that the Indians did not end up grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory on this occasion. I should commend both Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid for their brilliant performance, which ensured that India got off to a winning start to the tri- series campaign. The smiles that broke out on the Lord's balcony at the end of the evening were pointers to the fact that the morale is quite high in the Indian camp after this magnificent victory.

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