It was just as feared… an anti climax.

After a wonderfully contested one-day series, the deciding game was over when India failed to put up more than 200 and allowed England the luxury of chasing a total without any pressure of an asking rate. It’s the asking rate that makes teams panic and when they lose early wickets, it’s even tougher and that’s why India’s win at The Oval was so special. It came after the major batsmen were back in the hut and the asking rate was always over 6 an over, which means more runs to score than deliveries to face.

There will be many who will criticize Dravid’s decision to bat first after winning the toss but he simply backed his strength which was batting and if that didn’t deliver then there’s nothing much a skipper can do. True there was more than a dodgy decision, but that’s part of the game though of course Indian supporters will say that right throughout the summer including the Tests it was the Indians who got more wronged than the home team. Sachin Tendulkar suffered most and it was as if the escapes he had in Bangladesh were compensated for, though of course, there were different umpires then and here in England. Still he showed the doubters that he still has more than plenty left in the tank and the rest before the Australians come for the one-day series should do him, Ganguly and Dravid the world of good.

What was disappointing was the soft dismissal of Ganguly. It’s here that the elegant left-hander has given his critics the chance to contest his stature as a world-class batsman. When the going gets tough he looks to hit his way out of trouble rather than stick it out. Anderson who has bowled superbly throughout the season got him hopping with well-directed bouncers and after that Ganguly was trying unconvincing shots. Once the famed opening pair had failed to get the team off to a blazing start, it was never going to be easy unless of course the little champion played an innings that only he can. That was cruelly cut short just as he was setting after Flintoff and making the fans sit on the edge of their seats in anticipation of more fireworks. Dravid didn’t disturb the scorers and Gambhir once again fell to a pull shot though this time it was a brilliant catch that got rid of him. There’s been an impression given in the series especially when things were not going well for England that they had more than one captain on the field. Flintoff has been seen arranging the field from second slip and Pietersen and even Ian bell have waved their arms at fielders asking them to move this way or that. However in the decider Collingwood was in control and his captaincy was top notch with spot-on field placing and bowling changes. He never relaxed the pressure on the Indians and did not allow them to break free. Dhoni played a lone valiant hand but it wasn’t enough as India fell at least 40 runs short of what would have been a fighting total.

RP Singh replacing Agarkar on the ground where he picked up five wickets in the Test earlier in the summer gave a shock to England picking two quick wickets but the in-form Bell and a determined Pietersen ensured there was no panic and then the calm cool collected skipper came in and played another fine innings to give England a rare one-day series win. They haven’t won many either at home or away.

The loss in the one-dayers meant that India continue to win in one format and lose in the other on their tours to the major Test-playing countries.

However they may have lost the one-day series but were by no means disgraced. If anything the way they came back after being down 1-3 in the series is an indication of the toughening up of this side. It’s been a long tour and those not going to South Africa will be looking forward to spending some quality time at home and recharging their batteries for what seems like a tough year of cricket to come.