In the middle of a spirited West Indian revival forged by Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ridley Jacobs, the television screen flashed a chilling reminder for the Indian cricket fan. There is hope for West Indies, it said, recalling a day in the not-so-distant past when an unheralded Zimbabwean number 10 named Douglas Marillier, came in at 210 for 8 with his side needing 65 at 12 runs an over and stole it from India with 56 of most cheeky runs off 24 balls. Chanderpaul and Jacobs had come together at 88 for 5 and added 71 runs in no time. Master-plodder Chanderpaul, whose 562 runs in the Test series had taken him 1459 balls, had plundered 51 off 40 and with Jacobs looking his pugnacious self, 89 runs at 7.5 an over didn't look so distant after all. With India as opposition, all is never lost.

That India didn't manage to squander a match that seemed theirs for the major part of the day must come as a great relief for the Indian cricketers and cricket lovers. For added comfort, it was their second successive win in a one-day decider after ten consecutive losses in finals. A 2-1 victory in the one-day series was no compensation for the 1-2 loss in the Tests, but it was a nice way to end a long and arduous tour.

It was a controlled performance by India without being spectacular. Their batting was professional though never explosive. They finished at 260, while promising 280 all through. The Indian batsmen motored along 50 overs without ever hitting the accelerator. They were 97 for 1 at 20, 148 for 3 at 30 and 201 for 4 at 40. The big push that always seemed round the corner never materialised, because they were pushed back by consistent loss of wickets. Sehwag went in the 9th over, Mongia in the 21st, Ganguly in the 29th, Dravid in the 38th , Yuvraj in the 43rd and Tendulkar in the 47th. Fifty-nine runs off the last ten overs wasn't disastrous, but it seemed, at that point, about 20 short of what could have been achieved. But after having given it away the previous day through a series of ill-conceived strokes it was a disciplined and professional display.

Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly will perhaps go down as the most successful opening pair in one-day cricket and the decision to break their partnership is the subject of many debates in India, particularly when Tendulkar has scored 30 of his 31 centuries opening the innings. But it's a decision based on sound logic. With the arrival of Virender Sehwag, India have enough dash at the top of the order. They need solidity and flexibility in the middle which Tendulkar alone, with his versatility, can provide. It's a tribute to his greatness that he scored 65 off 70 balls without really hitting top gear. Had he stayed on for four more overs India could have well reached 280, but without him at number four, they would have struggled to get 240.

That's the way forward for India in one-day cricket.

Sambit Bal is editor of Wisden.com in India.

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