It is sad that only a crowd of close to 20,000 was present in the Wankhede Stadium to see the twists and turns on a dramatic final day between India and the West Indies. In the end, a draw wasn't a just result on Saturday as India should have won the third Test after Pragyan Ojha and R. Ashwin turned in heroic displays. Part of the blame for the eventual draw should rest with the frontline Indian batsmen, with many gifting away their wickets.

Looking back, the hype in this Test was all around one man who was to have scored his 100th hundred. From the eve of the match till the time India batted bravely to close in on the Windies' mammoth first innings total, the entire focus was on Sachin Tendulkar. The champion batsman fell tantalisingly short of the mark but the rest of the Test was all about character shown by our batsmen and bowlers. In the first innings, not one pair got a hundred-run partnership but the batsmen still put up 482, showing great depth.

But the finds of the series, so to say, were the two spinners - Ojha and Ashwin. If there was one more topic of interest apart from Sachin's elusive hundred, it was if Harbhajan Singh would find a place in the squad for the ODIs against the West Indies and then the Test team for the tour of Australia. Based on the sheer weight of their performances and the ability to take 42 out of the 60 West Indies wickets which fell in the six innings, Ojha and Ashwin come as a whiff of fresh air.

People wondered if this was a gamble worth taking, throwing two relatively 'inexperienced' spinners into the deep end of the pool. It is one thing to experiment with new spinners in the ODIs, where in the event of bowlers being flogged, one can fall back on part-time bowlers. One must give credit to skipper M S Dhoni for giving the confidence and setting fields which could get wickets for his spinners. In the era gone by, it used to be the spin combo of Harbhajan and Anil Kumble which was potent on tailor made tracks at home and also abroad.

However, in Ashwin, there is a quality off-spinner who has huge self-belief and has justified the faith imposed in him. Add to it the lethal left-arm spin from the other end in the form of Ojha, and this pair has been inspirational. If one takes a look at the Wankhede Stadium pitch, it resembled a runway for the first four days. Some even asked if it had been so designed for Sachin to get a century.

Yet, the drama which unfolded on the final day made the same track look so different, resulting in a contest which had all the trappings of a thriller. The excitement of the final over had to be seen and enjoyed, though the inability to get that one run will be replayed in our minds for a long time. Then again, when one reflects about this Test for some time, it is the end result which will stay in the mind and not Sachin missing his century. It is indeed a huge landmark which he will scale, but till such time as he reaches there, let the champion enjoy himself.

BE IT headlines on TV or newspapers, Sachin not getting to the big 100 has become an obsession. Pressure of expectation, nerves and choking - all kinds of phrases have been used for Sachin's 'inability' to get there. For a man who has provided us immense joy for over two decades, we need to respect him and not conduct post-mortems over why he fell short.

Fans will now expect Ojha and Ashwin to come up with the magical stuff regularly. Irrespective of what happens in the ODIs against West Indies, all eyes will be on them Down Under. Pitch conditions there are extremely different and for Ojha and Ashwin to succeed will be a challenge. Luckily, in Dhoni, they have a captain who lets them bowl how they want. I had almost given up hope that one day India would again have a left-arm spinner bowling aggressively. It wasn't the case of Ojha bowling left- arm over the wicket but also coming round the wicket to attack the batsmen.

Since Venkatapathy Raju, India has never seen a left-arm spinner attacking so well in the longer format of the game. Of course, Murali Kartik had his moments but he was by and large reduced to being a defensive bowler. As for Ashwin, no words of praise are enough. He has matured so fast and his batting ability is also a huge asset for Team India. Still want to talk of Sachin missing his 100 and Harbhajan being left out?