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WHEN Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee announced a couple of months ago that an Indian cricket team could tour Pakistan for a full-fledged series, there were apprehensions in several quarters, including the players.

Their worry was natural. After 14 long years, an Indian cricket team was to undertake a full-fledged tour across the border. Twice in the last 5-6 years, Indian cricket team's tours to Pakistan had been cancelled at the eleventh hour due to the Kargil war and cross-border fightings.

On a number of occasions, several Pakistani former and even present cricketers had hinted in public that Indian cricketers were afraid of losing to Pakistan and therefore were not willing to make the trip to their country.

Security was the major issue on which the Indian Government showed more anxiety. But once that issue was settled, with a three-member BCCI delegation making a trip to Pakistan and seeing for itself the tight security arrangements made by the home authorities, there was no question of the tour not coming off.

The Indian cricketers, despite their good performance in Australia a month earlier, were at a disadvantage when the 40-day tour began. Firstly, the home advantage surely favoured the Pakistanis. Secondly, India's main bowlers, including Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, were unfit, still recovering from injuries sustained during the tour of Australia. Even Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, who were picked for the Pakistan tour, hadn't fully recovered from their injuries although the BCCI doctors had declared them fit.

Taking all these factors into consideration, it was a tough task that the Indian team faced when they landed in Pakistan. The fact that the Indians had never won a series in Pakistan since touring that country as far back as 1952-53 also weighed heavily against the Indians.

But the series was mooted as a friendship series and it was quite evident the manner in which the Indian team members were received at every venue. Probably, even at home venues, the Indians would not have received such a warm welcome.

And when India finally ended the drought and registered its first-ever victory on Pakistan soil, there was joy all over the country, as never seen before. For a moment, everything stopped in the country, even political meetings and discussions took a back seat. Such is the power of cricket in the country.

India came back strongly in the five-match series to first draw at 2-2 and then clinch the series 3-2. The main reason for India's triumph can be attributed to several things. But foremost reason is the discipline shown by the young Indian bowlers, led by Irfan Pathan and L Balajee, who made all the difference to the outcome.

It was conceded even before the start of the campaign that India had a strong batting line-up what with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly at the top-order. But Pakistan, undoubtedly, had one of the strongest bowling attacks. Sohaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami were two fearsome fast bowlers who could tear apart any batting on their day. It was even billed as a series of India's batting vs Pakistan's bowling.

But in the end, it proved to be India's discipline in batting, bowling and fielding against consistently indisciplined batting, bowling and fielding by the home team.

From Day One in the series, Pakistani bowling lacked discipline. Their bowlers conceded too many extras (no balls and wides) for their comfort. Ultimately, what cost them the three matches was this indifferent bowling.

On the other hand, with its inexperienced bowling attack, India was able to contain the Pakistani batsmen on the placid wickets. Pathan and Balajee in particular were a revelation. Nehra and Zaheer also bowled well in spells.

The One-Day series had a few lessons and positive points for the Indians. The coming age of Pathan as a strike bowler is a good indication for Indian cricket. India has also proved that they are no more `chokers' when it comes to crunch games. They showed that they have the ability to come back and win matches even from hopeless positions. Each member has started contributing to the team's success. That's the biggest gain from the series.

There was never any doubt about India's batting strength. And it lived up to its reputation all along. If anything had to be proved in this series, it was that there were batsmen who could rise to the occasion even if Tendulkar failed to come up with a big score. Dravid (99 in the first game), VVS Laxman (100 in the decider), Kaif and Yuvraj also made useful contributions.

Another factor that made the difference between winning and losing was the fielding. While the home team dropped several catches in almost every game, the Indians came up with some stunning catches. One of them, by Kaif who rolled over Hemang Badani to dismiss a Pakistani batsman, still lingers in one's mind. Tendulkar's superb catch to dismiss Inzamam in the decider also was a superb exhibition of fine catching. One could not have asked more from the Indian fielders.

Besides the performances on the field, what struck one during the entire series was the smooth manner in which both teams conducted themselves on and off the field. There were hardly any bickering over umpiring decisions. One could even see members of the teams shaking hands and sharing jokes outside the playing arena.

Cricket was finally the winner. The series will definitely go down in history as harbinger of amity and peace in the sub-continent. One could see in Lahore the passion for the game was transformed into an ocean of goodwill and amity for each other never seen before.

No cricket follower - there were millions in the two countries - was willing to buy the theory that the matches were `fixed' as alleged by some former Pakistan cricketers. ``The matches were played in the right spirit. We should have more such visits by the two teams,'' was the unanimous call of the general people of Pakistan after the Lahore game.

Given the kind of background in which to grind out a dull draw was considered the patriotic thing to do at the sub-continental batting crease, we can only be thankful to the modern age because One-Day cricket has made the drawn Test something of an oddity. Surely, therefore, one can expect some thrilling fare in the three Test matches also. The fact is defeat is no more such a bogey as to render the cricket so tiresome as it was when India and Pakistan used to battle for draws.

The Indians, by their determined display, have proved to the opposition that they are not afraid of losing. In fact, they have started to love winning matches. Youthful exuberance has taken over all sport in the world. Indian cricket is not far behind.

Whether the politicians in both India and Pakistan would take a leaf out of the manner in which the game was played throughout remains to be seen in the coming months. Winning or losing was never the big worry for either team. This series has undoubtedly proved one thing very clear. People of the two neighbouring countries would love to live together as brothers and sisters. Are politicians in India and Pakistan listening ?