Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi described India's victory over Pakistan at Centurian as one of the most spectacular wins by an Indian team in recent years.
Speaking to rediff.com soon after India won by six wickets, Bedi said Pakistan lost because they did not have a leader and were more like individuals playing under a banner.
"It was a good and covincing win. Sachin Tendulkar played like a champion, but I did not like the way he lost his concentration and got out. To me he looked good for 150 runs," Bedi said.
Asked why Pakistan lost despite the fact that they put up a fighting total of 273, Bedi said, "A leaderless team is bound to lose no matter how much it scores.
"Pakistani did not have an Imran Khan or Javed Miandad in it to lead the team. To my mind they were individuals playing for themselves," he said.
He also wondered how long the International Cricket Council would turn a blind eye to chucking by Shoaib Akhtar.
The Indian victory also provided some respite to the Bhartiya Janata Party leadership who had been smarting under humiliating defeat at the hands of the Congress in the Himachal assembly elections.
According to senior party leaders, Prime Minister Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani also watched the match till the end.
Vijay Kumar Malhotra, BJP's parliamentary spokesman, told rediff.com it is a matter of great satisfaction that the Indian team did not let the nation down. "A win over Pakistan is like bringing the World Cup home," he admitted.
Vikram Verma, minister of state for youth and sports, expressed the hope that Ganguly and his men would go on to win the World Cup.
"With this kind of performance we can expect them to bring the World Cup to India," he said.
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