A much-needed boost for India

While watching this series, it was impossible not to think of what these two teams used to be. When South Africa first came here for a Test series in 1996, India were in the middle of a period when they were well-nigh invincible at home. And it was a reflection of how formidable the South Africans were that they thrashed India in Kolkata, and ran them mighty close at Ahmedabad before Javagal Srinath produced the best spell of his career.

Eight years on, India's aura of impregnability on home turf is gone, after series defeats to Australia and South Africa in the new millennium. New Zealand came and drew a series 14 months ago, and even teams like Zimbabwe - before Andy Flower and friends left in search of new horizons - managed a stiff fight where once they had only surrendered meek.

As Rahul Dravid said after that New Zealand series, teams are increasingly coming to the subcontinent prepared for every aspect of the challenge. Where their predecessors moaned about the heat and whinged about the food, the new generation are far more likely to embrace all the complexities encompassed by the Indian experience.

They also come prepared to encounter slow, low pitches that take sharp turn from the outset. As Michael Clarke and even Zander de Bruyn showed, there is a new breed of visiting cricketer unafraid of taking on the slow bowlers - aided by quick feet, soft hands and composure to blot out the baying crowds.

For most of this home season, those crowds have been part of the great middle-order debate, discussing why Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly are in the middle of a prolonged slump. It doesn't help that they will forever be judged on the basis of mind-boggling achievements in Australia last winter, when they were labelled - with some justification - as one of the strongest batting sides ever to tour that land.

It wasn't just the sheer weight of runs that they produced, but also the manner in which they were scored, with flair and authority, that raised expectation to unreasonably high levels. Instead of savouring a purple patch the likes of which we shall never see again from any batting line-up, Indian supporters started asking for the sky each time one of the famous four walked to the crease.

And with the middle suddenly showing signs of softness, it was left to Virender Sehwag to take the steel cutlass to the South Africans. Sehwag's displays in 2004 have bordered on the schizophrenic - listless one-day outings competing for headline space with magnificent knocks in the five-day game. As a Test-match opener, he is now as intimidating a prospect for opposition bowlers as Matthew Hayden was in his bull run from 2001 to 2003.

More importantly, he gives India an opening option that they have never had. A half-dozen Gavaskar wannabes have come and gone, without leaving a trace, and yet Sehwag - who has no pretensions to being anything but his own man, and who still talks of moving down the order - has carved out a Test-match niche as a free-stroking cavalier capable of huge scores, a latter-day Michael Slater with the same happy knack of playing series-winning innings.

There can be no such comparisons for Anil Kumble, who has been both the burden-bearing Atlas and Thor the destroyer for as long as most Indian fans can remember. With the leaves falling from his career-tree, Kumble is bowling as well as he has ever done, with a zest and purpose that suggest that the last leaf may not need to be painted on anytime soon.

It helps that he and Harbhajan Singh are finally bowling together again, a tandem to match Bedi and Prasanna, and Bedi and Chandra, from the days of long ago. Harbhajan has been sensational since his return, and his sublime spell in Kolkata was further evidence that few are in his league when it comes to winning matches.

For the first time in aeons, Ganguly was able to play his first-choice bowling attack, all of them fit and operating near peak intensity. Zaheer Khan and Irfan Pathan were magnificent in the first innings at the Eden Gardens, and mention must be made too of Murali Kartik, who bowled with great guile and heart on the dodo-dead surface at Kanpur.

If there is a problem area, it's still the wicketkeeping, though Dinesh Karthik's performances with the gloves were a definite improvement on the final dark days of Parthiv Patel's stint with the team. His gritty effort with the bat in Kolkata also quieted a few of those who doubted whether he could score runs against bowling that was better than Ranji-Trophy quality.

After the demoralising defeats against Australia, this was the pick-me-up that Indian cricket desperately needed, since a reverse against an inexperienced South African team would have obliterated whatever gains were made on the tours of Australia and Pakistan. The mixed bag of results this home season could prove to be a spur in the long run, a gentle reminder to the team that though much distance has been traversed, there are many more miles to go, and further frontiers to conquer.