India have also proved that the gains of the last few years weren't the stuff of illusion. Zaheer Khan has proved his ascendancy hasn't abated. He and Ishant Sharma together have made India's new ball attack the best in the world, says Javagal Srinath. Backing them was Munaf Patel, tall, angular and mean. Harbhajan Singh topped the bowling charts with 16 wickets, a surprising feat for a spinner in New Zealand.
Gambhir came into his own as a Test batsman
Man of the series Gautam Gambhir, whose technique caused much chatter at his advent, was a revelation, proving he can be the Wall as well as the Wallop. India's strong batting held together—Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman all scored runs, as they have in the last two years. And when they didn't, the lower order, led by M.S. Dhoni, was always there to script escapes—for instance, taking the team from 182 for five to 379 in the Wellington Test. The team's performance could have been devastating had Virender Sehwag scored, but as Mark Richardson, the former New Zealand opener, says, "If more runs had been needed, it's certain they would have been scored." India's domination was satisfying, more so because they lost the last tour 2-0, making a total of 535 runs in four innings!
Yet, it might be prudent to pause and ponder—this New Zealand team is ranked eighth in the world. Over the last five years, they've lost 9 of 19 Tests. They haven't beaten a big team in a series since 2004-05. India should have really crushed them, feel some. "I'm particularly galled by the drawn third Test," Bishan Singh Bedi, one of the 1968 stars, told Outlook. "We should have destroyed them. Why did India set them a target of 617? Were they afraid that New Zealand could chase a 400-plus target, or bat out two-and-a-half days? And why were the field settings defensive, why weren't the bowlers willing to purchase wickets? You can't become No. 1 if you play with fear!"
Pataudi described the series win in New Zealand "as a good effort", but wished the Indians were more positive. "I noticed the same attitude against England at Mohali last December—somewhat unnecessarily defensive," Pataudi told Outlook. "I think India could have put much more pressure on New Zealand."
Things could have been different, in fact, if New Zealand had replicated the pitches of 2003 this time around, but they perhaps feared Zaheer and Ishant too much. "They don't have drop-in wickets (prepared elsewhere and transplanted into the ground) any more," Srinath says. "These wickets didn't seam like before." Stephen Fleming, the Kiwi captain in 2003, was disappointed with the nature of the tracks: "There is nothing wrong if the bowlers dominate a series. In fact, it's good for the game: you cannot have big scores all the time."
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