Skipper Rahul Dravid stood up inside the team bus on the way back this evening, turned towards his teammates, thanked them for the job done, then reminded them of the challenges up ahead. Quietly, rookie fast bowler Ishant Sharma reached out to Anil Kumble with a small request — he wanted the veteran’s sign on the ball that got him his first Test wicket.

Small moments, happy moments for Team India, after a three-week journey through what many had feared would be a minefield, but what actually turned out to be a brisk stroll in the neighbourhood park.

After the 2-0 one-day sweep, India had rolled up the two-Test series today with a crushing win on just the third day of the final game even though Dravid shied away from any talk of retaining pride, or salvaging it. Obviously, that Trinidad nightmare still hurts badly.

But still, India can look back on this Sunday with a proud smile after stubbing out Bangladesh by an innings and 239 runs — a perfect birthday gift for manager Ravi Shastri who had walked into a team that had been badly scarred by the blaze after the World Cup.

And yes, some more happy moments — man-of-the-match Zaheer Khan’s seven wickets built on “the right area”, some gritty bowling by Kumble, battling fever, playing well below his best and, of course, those four centuries by Dinesh Kaarthick, Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.

Bangladesh? Not having played Test cricket for the last 13 months, not a single one of their batsmen having played even a four-day domestic game last season, it was a disaster waiting to happen. And it happened in just one day — 15 wickets tumbling to some steady bowling, managing just 118 in the first innings and 135 more in the next that lasted till a few minutes before close.

... contd.