I know no words that can encapsulate the magnificence of Rahul Dravid’s batting. Most remarkably, he has been in this form for a while now. His consistency is mind boggling. On top of that, he rarely looks troubled, and bats with an assurance few batsmen posses. His scores from the last ODI against South Africa – 78 n.o.-18-56-22-59-50-34-5-46-65-69-20. Today, he scored a delicious 92. That’s an average of 51.2.

That’s remarkable in itself. Add to that the fact that he has led from the front as captain, moving up to open, to cover for the failings of lesser batsmen. Add to that the fact that he has, on almost every occasion, batted in the midst of a top order collapse. Add to that the fact that India has won almost every time he scores big and you are referred back to the opening line of this article. Hats off to you, buddy. May the flow of runs from your bat remain a never ending torrent.

Writing yesterday, I had said that Sehwag should have played and had predicted his return to form. Nice to see him back among the runs. Unlike, Ganguly at the end, and Kaif now, Sehwag never looked like he did not belong here. It was a combination of poor concentration and a certain nonchalance regarding the very existence of a problem. Hopefully, his knock of 73 today will banish the mental cob-webs (if any) and shut up the commentators who write by merely looking at the scorecard.

Rahul and Sehwag galloped to an opening stand of 138 in 25.5 overs. Both were imperious in their batting. Dhoni made a controlled 59 and Yuvraj struck a savage 24 off only 10 balls! India ended with 269/5, which is a pretty good score on this pitch.

I had predicted a 40 run victory for India at the break. The team did even better, bowling Pakistan for 218. Inzamam batted very well, accelerated at will towards the end, but ran himself out for 79 (209/9). And that, as they say, was curtains for Pakistan.

Pathan returned to form today, getting Imran Farhat and the dangerous Afridi early (23/2). He returned in the 42^nd. over to get Naved-ul-Hasan, just when he was going hell for leather. Powar also got three, while Sreesanth, Bhajji and Agarkar got one apiece. Powar’s good show continues. His figures were spoilt by one over when Naved-ul-Hasan took him to the cleaners. He fielded well and will rightly continue in the side. Agarkar, surprised me by bowling well (8-1-30-1).

The players have done exceptionally well in the last 25 or so ODIs. They now get a well deserved rest. Great work, guys. See you in the Caribbean.