Let's just sit back and enjoy the sweet smell of success, says Inzamam

When we landed here six weeks ago, I had never imagined that we would be going back home at the end of the series in a special flight to attend a public reception. It really feels like a dream come true.

Accolades are pouring in from all quarters and we accept them humbly, just as we took all pre-series criticism gracefully. But this is not the time for all that. This is a special occasion for Pakistan cricket and we must talk about the positives, said a jubilant Pakistan skipper Inzaman Ul Haq.

To come back from 0-2 down and beat India 4-2 is really fantastic. I can keep talking about Shahid Afridi, Rana Naved-ul Hasan, Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan, and believe me; I will not tire of it. I have always fancied our chances in one-day cricket where our recent record is pretty decent against top teams.

And let me remind all concerned that Pakistan's super show during this entire tour was all about combined team effort rather than individual brilliance. We have shown what hard work and perseverance can do. It was not easy for my inexperienced side to come here and take on India, who were clearly the favourites in the series.

Looking back, I can safely say that the Kamran Akmal-Abdul Razzaq partnership at Mohali, which helped us save the first Test, was the defining moment of this series. That convinced the boys that we could take India head-on. In Kolkata, we batted badly on the final day to lose the match, but were hardly outclassed.

We had nothing to lose in Bangalore and we went all-out for a win. The key for us there was to win the toss and put up a big score on the board. I was lucky with the coin and Younis Khan played perhaps the most significant innings of his career. The only stumbling block on our way was Virender Sehwag. Once we got him on the final day, we could sense victory and it came in due course.

I didn't agree with all those who said that the Bangalore victory had taken a lot out of us and we didn't have enough fuel in the tank to see us through the ODI series. It took a bit of time to switch over from Tests to ODIs. Also the heat, humidity and the travel schedule didn't help.

The boys worked really hard on their fitness and we showed in Vizag that we were up to the task even while chasing 349. From Jamshedpur onwards it was a different story which had a fairytale ending in Delhi.

In the final analysis, we fielded and bowled better than India in the latter part of the ODI series, but having said that, there are areas we still need to work on.

Right now, our morale is high and I am sure the experience that the boys have gathered during our tour of India will come in handy when we visit the West Indies in two weeks' time. But, for now, let's just sit back and enjoy the sweet smell of success.

(CafeCricket)