Mumbai: Former skipper Ajit Wadekar on Thursday said the current Indian team which beat Pakistan in the first Test at Multan is the “best ever” team that we have sent abroad.

“According to me, this is the best-ever team to have gone abroad and the key to their success is that they are playing as a unit.” He said.

Wadekar is considered as one of the most successful captains after he led the country to its first series win in the West Indies and England in the 70s.

“The players are willing to learn from their mistakes and the performance of the team is improving all the time. Every player, be it ’keeper Parthiv Patel or bowlers (Laxmipathy) Balaji or Irfan Pathan are giving hundred per cent because they are getting motivated by the superb performances of their seniors like Sachin (Tendulkar), Viru (Virender Sehwag) and Anil (Kumble).

“Today being my birthday I would like to consider this win as a birthday gift by the boys. They almost won the match on Wednesday but couldn’t take the last wicket so I would like to think that they dragged it by a day so that it would be a birthday gift for me”, Wadekar.

On Sehwag’s triple century, he said “it was Sehwag’s attacking batting which really helped Rahul Dravid to declare the innings and go for the kill. I think it was one of the most explosive innings by an Indian in recent times.

“His hand and eye coordination is really great and the way he concentrated and his determination to succeed were very clear to all,” Wadekar added.

Praising Dravid’s captaincy and his positive approach, Wadekar said: “I was very impressed by Dravid's handling of the bowlers. He was very calm and cool even when the Pakistan batsmen were trying to build partnerships.