India are earning their stripes abroad

India have levelled the three-Test series against South Africa with an 87-run win in Durban. Writing in the DNA, Sanjjeev K Samyal says that though India have been long known as tigers at home but lambs abroad, they have turned things around in 2010 capping it off with a fantastic win in Durban, and have proved themselves worthy of being the No. 1 Test team in the world.

It was the biggest year in Indian cricket. For the first-time ever, our cricketers were in an unfamiliar position of being the favourites each time they played a Test. Thanks mainly to Laxman, Tendulkar, Khan and Harbhajan, the team did not do its cause any harm by fighting back every time their reputation was at stake

Writing on his blog Siddhartha Vaidyanathan says that the Durban win is very special because it shows just how far India have come in 14 years.

Fourteen years down the road, we’ve no doubt come a long, long way. Hammered in the first Test and put into bat on a green pitch, against a potent pace attack, which includes arguably the best bowler in the world, India have responded in a most inspiring fashion. Deprived of any warm-up games, they’ve adjusted to the conditions and shown the kind of character that one never saw in the ‘90s

VVS Laxman was declared the Man of the Match in the Durban Test. Writing in the Telegraph, Mukul Kesavan says Laxman is Indian batsmanship’s embodiment of grace under pressure.

Just as Gavaskar begat Tendulkar, Viswanath made Laxman possible. The radiance of that 281 makes an alternative batting lineage visible, one in which greatness is measured by epic deeds, not consistency