Adelaide: It’s a tremendous victory. It is difficult to explain the import of what the Indians have done, especially Rahul Dravid and V.V. S. Laxman. Starting out tentatively, allowing the Aussies to score 556, and then recovering from the rut… to this marvellous victory.

It was only natural to believe the Indians wanted to save the game. Hence no amount of credit to Dravid and Laxman is enough. Look at Dravid. He was always there — with the bat in both innings and with his brilliant fielding. I’d say Dravid and Laxman are at this point the best batsmen on either side… and that includes Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar. These guys are in control, they are winners.

The mind does go back to India’s first ever Test victory Down Under — that 1977 December-end in Melbourne (India won by 222 runs). Yes, that was history scripted under my captaincy, but I wouldn’t want to make any comparison, that’s odious… Then we were making a comeback from a 0-2 series deficit (lost in Brisbane and Perth) and in that Test the matchwinner was Bhagwat Chandrasekhar (six for 52 in each innings). Here the guys have actually taken a 1-0 lead, and the batting is what got them to it. It’s different, very different.

[India went on to win the fourth Test too in Sydney, in that series, a fascinating innings and two runs verdict, levelling the series 2-2. However, the series was not salvaged, India losing the fifth at this Adelaide Oval].

Of course, nobody expected Ajit Agarkar to run through the innings. Of course the Aussie batting has to take the blame, reckless, rash that the strokes were. I’ve never heard a person like John Buchanan come out so strongly against the immaturity of the batting. Buchanan is a man of very few words…

I hope the team doesn’t sit on this victory as they go over to Melbourne. I have always maintained this Aussie squad is beatable, and we are now in the “we shall” phase… We shall win… This mode of mind is very important. I am looking forward keenly, but remember that the Aussies will be thinking hard. Steve Waugh isn’t somebody who throws in his towel so easily, and each Australian team member would want Steve to go out on a high.

The Aussies did not treat the Indian bowling on its merit, so they perished. That is unlikely to be the case in the remaining Tests.

There is no room for complacency. If Brett Lee is back in Melbourne, it could spell danger. Without them and sans Shane Warne, and with Jason Gillespie not fit, this Aussie attack wasn’t upto expectations. So we should expect new things in Melbourne.

Possibly it is necessary that India too should push in a ‘new’ element.

There is little room for change in this Indian XI, but Murali Kartik and Anil Kumble are the musts, as I have already said. Drop Irfan Pathan, and I hope Zaheer Khan is fit, and one never knows what Agarkar can do. There is a big variety in this combination, good to fox the Aussies.

It is good that Sachin is still in the game, despite being none-too-impressive with the bat. Look at the wickets he took, providing the vital breakthroughs. The team spirit is high.

One word for Dravid and Laxman: they must start asserting themselves. That probably is their difference today with the likes of a Ponting or a Tendulkar. The two are mild now. As soon as Sachin or Ponting are on top they totally dominate the bowling. Dravid and Laxman are so sound technically, its time they moved into the domination zone. Needs a little courage, but that they have.

Every team member should behave as if he is the skipper. That way Sourav Ganguly’s responsibility is shared, and the momentum grows.

And between this, without malice, let me say that Parthiv Patel needs a talking to. He has grown up, and the earlier he realises this the better. Persist with him, I am all for a specialist wicketkeeper, but let him know his responsibilities.

Last but not the least, I am happy the Aussie media has been shut up. They fail to give any credit to us. Today they can speak in only one voice, praising the Indian victory.