INDIA'S TAME surrender in the second cricket Test match at Trentbridge has triggered a desperate wave of soul-searching back home in India and a genuine celebration in English corridors. The English team lived up to the promise of its quest for number one spot in Test cricket by plundering India in all departments of the two games played so far. However, Indians too came out with flying colours as far as generosity is concerned.

Indians are the true flag bearers of the ‘Gentlemen’s game’ and International Cricket Council (ICC) needs to carve out a rating system for this as well. Everyone is talking about the generous decision of revoking Ian Bell’s decision of run out, but what about the generosity shown by Harbhajan Singh for not bowling to his reputation. Leave apart living to the expectations, he expressed his gratitude towards his hosts of not bothering to bowl at all (not even 15 overs in the match) which would have eased the pressure off the Indian pacers. What was that mysterious injury? Watching him bat in the second innings and the way he ran between the wickets- one would imagine- where was he unfit?

Now, let us talk about our generous super cool captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He has earned respect for his decision in Bell’s case, but what about the fans who wanted justification of the number one tag. Why did he keep on playing Harbhajan despite his horrendous form? He keeps on obliging the English with his smaller stays at the crease and with his sloppy work behind the stumps. His field placings, especially in the second test, were tailor made to allow hassle free runs even to the tail-enders. Who would forgive him (except the English team and fans) for not continuing with Ishant Sharma in the second innings at Lord’s after lunch when he was bowling at his best?

Look at the way India threw away the advantage and the match at Trentbridge after bundling out the hosts on 221 in the first innings and were on their way to a healthy lead when suddenly Dhoni decided to open the floodgates for Chris Broad to swim across.

In the first Test, Zaheer Khan was generous enough to leave his team in disarray by walking off the pitch, which reflected a clear cut negligence in assessing the real conditions. Gautam Gambhir could play the entire season of Indian Premier League (IPL) with damaged shoulders, but what forced him to rest his heels after not so fatal injury even after seeing India’s dismal performance at Lord’s?

People and cricket pundits are saying that we didn't look like an international side, let alone the world's number one side. But Dhoni and his bunch of gentlemen won’t mind it as far as they live up to their expectations of being generous competitors.

Whosoever feels that India lost due to lack of preparation, adaptation of conditions, injuries or due to well equipped opponents is apparently naïve and far from reality. In the backdrop of such a failure lies the greatness of a team that is humble and kind enough to not hurt its opponents! India didn’t lose, but it accepted the fate gracefully!