India's new spin twins

Of course you can also point to spinners in the past like Narendra Hirwani (now a selector), who made his Test debut with 16 wickets and L Sivaramakrishnan (now a commentator) who picked up 12 wickets in his very second Test. Both had brief careers.

But what sets Ashwin apart is that he comes to the Test side after taking 35 wickets in 21 ODIs and more than 50 wickets in the IPL for the Chennai Super Kings. Ashwin has already been around for quite some time and could be called a veteran.

He shows the right mixture of talent, temperament and attitude to go really far. If he does well in the remaining two Tests, he may get a chance to prove himself in Australia.

Of course, you can never count Bhajji out, but from now on he'll be bowling for his place in the team.

The bowling department is slowly falling into place with Praveen Kumar as a medium pace option and two new quicks in the form of Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron coming into the equation.

Laxman and the Great Chase

India has chased a score of 200 and above for the fourth innings 11 times in its history. Four of these chases have come in the last 15 odd months! VVS Laxman has remained the not out batsman in three of them.

First was the Colombo Test victory where we scored 258/5 in the fourth innings thanks to Laxman's 103 not out. India were 62-4 at one stage. Laxman is an absolute master at shepherding the tail.

After that we had the nerve-wracking 216/9 with Australia in Mohali. That included Laxman's unbeaten 73. It was a real achievement as we were 124-8 at one stage. Laxman took us home with Ishant Sharma and Ojha after that.

And now his unbeaten half-century at the Feroz Shah Kotla when India made 276/5 with ease in the fourth innings.

Laxman is one of the very rare players who has an average of more than 50 in the second innings. He has five precious centuries and 22 half-centuries.

Now that's one real match-winner!

Pakistan's woes and wins

One has absolutely got to admire Pakistan's resilience despite all the debacles. Talented players keep falling out of the team over things like match-fixing charges and other controversies. Other talented players just keep taking their places.

Where does all this talent come from? It's a key question because the country's domestic infrastructure seems well below par when compared to other nations. The PCB is also always in the news for all the wrong reasons.

International matches are also no longer being played in Pakistan. In fact the last such match played there was more than two-and-a-half years ago.

Despite that, they keep springing surprises. One was the Twenty20 World Cup of 2009. The latest is their Test series win over Sri Lanka in Sharjah, which came bang in the middle of the latest round of match-fixing trials where Salman Butt & Co. received jail terms.

England will have their work cut out when they travel to Dubai and Abu Dhabi for their long and gruelling series against Pakistan in January and February next year.

Pakistan are either fighting fit or wounded tigers depending on which part of the cycle you face them.

India's chances of regaining their No.1 Test crown look more real than ever.

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The author is a Bengaluru-based journalist and blogger.

He blogs at http://sunilrajguru.com/