When a Test match ends in two days with just over 200 overs bowled and 605 runs scored, you won't term it is an ideal Test. But whatever the stats say and how much ever views are expressed over the pitch at the Wankhede, the bottom line is India won the Test and that's what matters to millions of cricket fanatics across the country who have been deprived of such joyful moments courtesy India's poor showing of late. It's not to forget that Australia won the series. But at the end of the day, a Test win is a Test win, no matter under the situation in which it is achieved. This win should be a good morale-booster for India ahead of the Tests against the South Africans.

There were quite a few positives to come out for India from this Test. Firstly a couple of struggling batsmen got some much needed runs. Sachin Tendulkar, of all batsmen, showed some glimpses of the old Sachin by attacking the Aussies. He was especially severe on debutant off-spinner Nathan Hauritz. And though the offie had the last laugh, Sachin must realize that this is the best way for him to play and succeed at the international level. His 55 in a low scoring game was worth its weight in gold.

VVS Laxman, whose place in the team was under scrutiny and rightly so after his abysmal performances in the last few games, also gave the Wankhede crowd a lot to cheer about. The middle-order batsman was promoted to No.3, ala 2001, and once again justified his promotion. The team management has to take an important decision on how to use VVS Laxman's services. Maybe in Indian conditions where the ball doesn't do a lot of the pitch, he should continue batting at three as he can score quickly in these conditions while away from home in testing conditions, Dravid can take over the mantle of coming in one-down.
 

But the batting woes for India are not completely over. Gautam Gambhir looked totally out of sorts in his first Test. He must be given a few more chances though to prove his worth as an opening batsman. Sehwag, on the other hand, played a couple of good knocks in the series but otherwise he too was a big disappointment. His fielding in the outfield also let India down on a couple of occasions. Dravid, the stand-in captain for the last two Tests, ended the series with just one half century in seven innings. While he occupied the crease for long periods, runs weren't coming for the ICC Cricketer of the Year as the Aussies maintained a stranglehold over him. One hopes Ganguly comes back into the side for the next series so that Rahul can concentrate more on his batting which is so crucial for India as he can score big runs and hold the innings together when in form.

Sachin Tendulkar - reverted to his 'old', destructive self.

With a spinning pitch, you would expect the spinners to trouble the opposition batsmen. And that's exactly what the three spinners did. Amazingly, it was Murali Karthik who walked away with the Man of the Match award even with Kumble and Harbhajan in the team. It's a tribute to the left-arm spinner who has only got an opportunity to represent India seven times in Tests despite making his debut five years back. The left-arm spinner, like many other spinners in this era is extremely unlucky to have the likes of Harbhajan and Kumble playing. But instead of complaining, the 28 year old has delivered his best whenever given the opportunity. And this match winning performance should only encourage him to do better things in the future games.

A word of praise for Zaheer Khan too. The Baroda seamer struggled in the first couple of Tests. But the one spell at Chennai when he reverse-swung the ball to good effect and got the wicket of Katich turned things around for him. In Nagpur where Agarkar struggled, Zaheer was impressive and did trouble quite a few of the Aussies. Here too he provided the crucial breakthroughs for India in both the innings. All the more important as India went into the game with only one fast bowler. He will have to work on his consistency in line and length though to be more effective in international cricket. A lesson or two can be learnt from the way McGrath and co bowl never allow the new batsman any freebies and maintain a tight leash on the batsmen throughout.

There may be a lot of talk about the pitch in the days to come. The Aussies certainly did not have many kinds things to say about the Wankhede wicket and understandably so. But for the moment, India should enjoy this Test win and take the confidence gained from it into the next series.

For the Aussies on the other hand, it has been a disappointing end to what has been a great tour. Ricky Ponting's comeback to the Test arena has not been a great one. While the Team lost, his problems on Indian pitches continued as he was dismissed cheaply in both the innings. He is still young though and unlike some other seniors may be around when Australia next pay a visit here.

All said and done, Australia were deserving winners of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy having dominated the Two Tests in Bangalore and Nagpur. Congratulations to Australia on a wonderful performance.