Thank heavens the adjudicators had the good sense to make Virender Sehwag the man of the match. Had they got carried away with the excitement of Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh taking India to an excellent victory, poor Sehwag would have been forgotten after what was an extraordinary onslaught by him. Because of it, the final day’s target was whittled down to 256.

Fortunately, the skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had the good sense to describe Sehwag as the “playmaker” who set it all up. He added, “Without that innings we would have been defending on the final day.”

True Tendulkar and Yuvraj deserve immense credit for continuing with the good job done by the opening batsmen. But the role of Sehwag was decisive because he shattered the English bowling psychologically. Even bowlers of experience like Flintoff and Harmison had no idea where to bowl to the Delhi marauder. And with his partner Gautam Gambhir cleverly giving the strike to the senior man, England saw itself outplayed even tactically.

It would be sad if years later when the Test is talked about, people might not refer to Sehwag, which would be a travesty. But then personal records have never bothered him and he has done more for the team than most.