History beckons different people in different ways! How quickly Andrew Strauss' contribution was forgotten and how fast Kevin Pietersen has made an indelible mark towards a decisive result to the Test. (That it rained is another matter).
It is these match winners that tend to take even a small opportunity and convert it into a considerable advantage, one that has a telling effect on the morale and movement of the opposition.
Pietersen dug England out of a precipice of a situation and established that there would only be one team with a decisive advantage over the other. Not only did he steady the ship, but he marked out his personal goals in alignment with the needs of the team, shifting gears to make significant inroads into the psyche of the Indian team while capturing a fine century for himself and colossal lead for England.
While Tendulkar's contribution to the game cannot be denied, it was disappointing that the man who sparkled in the warm up matches could not turn on the magic in the game of such significant proportions. Sloppier still seemed his attempt at fending off a Panesar delivery only to offer pad as the first line of defence, a poor choice given his stature and India's penchant for spinners. If England consider anything from the first Test as a gift, it would have to be Tendulkar's wicket in that fashion.
Of course, the way most of the Indian line up panned out, England were not short of gifts. The only one denied was the sealing of the advantage with a win in the first Test. For now, England would do well to stay positive and bask in the psychological dent in the Indian psyche.
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