``We threw the match away,'' said Rameez Raja while Sachin Tendulkar thought, ``we clung on to a slim hope and converted a half chance into victory.'' Both are correct. Again, it is the way you look at it.

Whatever the reasons, India, berated by critics for being too ``soft'' in their attitude on the field, never had it so good in recent times. And the man who did the trick was Saurav Ganguly. The part-time medium pacer pulled the rug from under Pakistan with an amazing spell of five wickets for 16 runs off 10 overs, the best ever by any Indian against Pakistan. Winning the five-match series by a clear 3-0 margin against Pakistan - ``a very good opponent,'' according to Tendulkar - is startling even by their own assessment. Were India lucky? ``Luck is something that you create,'' quipped Madan Lal, the manager of the Indian team. Tendulkar was too ecstatic. ``Winning against Pakistan is always special, for they are very good opponents. At least since I was born I have not seen our guys winning three consecutive matches against them.'' And he is correct - India's best record against Pakistan being two successive victories in Sharjah some six years back.

``It's not too often that things go your way. We would like to make most of it to try and win the series 5-0,'' said the Indian skipper after his team's 34-run victory at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club. Are you practising?

``No. We want the boys to have a good time for a day at least.'' Madan went a step further. ``I would like the players to go home and enjoy the victory before flying to Pakistan for the Jinnah Cup. It's not too often (specially for Indians) that you come across such a ``satisfying situation.'' When asked to compare the straight 3-0 victory with that of the 1983 World Cup which India won, defeating the West Indies in the final, Madan said: ``A victory is a victory. Whether it's 1983 or 93 or 1997, it tastes the same.

Rameez, better suited for a diplomatic posting, preferably to India for his deft handling of a crisis situation, took things in his stride as vice-captain Saeed Anwar broke down and was seen being consoled by his wife and coach Haroon Rashid.

``Our immediate priority is to think of the safest possible route back home. We probably now need more helmets,'' said the skipper in a lighter vein after a reporter asked him about his strategy for the next two matches.

On a serious note, he felt: ``Our strategy was to play out the 50 overs after we restricted India to a manageable 182 for six in the allotted 50 overs. But we threw it away. The condition of the pitch had eased, but atrocious shots blew our sound start which Anwar and Shahid Afridi provided with a quickfire stand of 52 in just 9.1 overs.

``All we needed was a good partnership, but that never happened. ``You should have told the boys to stick in there?'' It was all a question of common sense. After all we have the experience of over 500 matches with us.

``One thing I must tell you, we were pretty focused and determined to win this game. But things, somehow, just didn't work our way.'' Why?

``Atrocious batting.''

Was it the spell of Ganguly, introduced in the 17th over when Pakistan were 95 for three, that changed the situation?

``He is a pretty decent bowler, but his figures are too flattering,'' said the skipper, fully convinced that it was the case of Pakistan losing the match rather than India winning it.

``He (Ganguly) just did what was right under the circumstances maintained a good line and length and it paid off.''

But Tendulkar said: ``You only play bad shots against good balls. Saurav, twice named Man of the Match in last three games, struck when it mattered most. But I thought it was Azharuddin who did a brilliant job, first with Rahul Dravid and then with Ajay Jadeja and Robin Singh and hung on here almost till the last over.

Pakistan's reply was simply superb. ``When Anwar and Afridi were going great guns, we thought the game was slipping away from us,'' said Tendulkar, quickly adding: ``But I had this sneaky feeling that once we took a couple of wickets we could at least make a match of it.''

Suddenly, Pakistan seemed to have lost concentration and looked totally out of sorts. What it was that struck them badly, nobody knows. They lost the last nine wickets for just 69 runs on a wicket which certainly was helpful to bowlers, but not unplayable as their collapse suggests. Why did the Pakistani batsmen opt to take the aerial route when singles and twos could have easily done the job, one can't say, but Pakistan needlessly made a mess of things.

Will it be a different story in the Jubilee Cup? ``We will have the advantage of the home crowd and the pitches,'' said Rameez. ``We hope to turn the tide there.''But Tendulkar has a message for the Pakistani fans. ``Ours is a battle on the field - and not off it. Enjoy cricket - and have a ball of a time.'' - Dawn-KT Service