Indian cricket changed forever on a hot, dusty Monday in this historic town. First, Virender Sehwag, that taciturn, unpredictable man who transmogrifies into a swashbuckling, unpredictable player, rewrote the record books by breaking the 300 barrier.

And then, stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid did what no Indian captain before him had probably done and, God knows, might not do again. He made a decision to declare with a player unbeaten on 194. The reasoning behind this apparently illogical decision was probably a brave one — he almost certainly put the team before an individual milestone. What made the decision so dramatic — and caused controversy galore — was that the man left stranded was Sachin Tendulkar.

It couldn't have been a more spectacular ending to a day on which records of every sort fell. The highest stand for any wicket against Pakistan, the highest individual score against Pakistan, the highest team total against Pakistan and finally, Laxman's epic 281, the highest ever score by an Indian batsman.

Sehwag, who began the day on 228, almost certainly felt that thing he says he never feels in life — pressure. It was a very unlike Sehwag-like innings that one witnessed on Monday. One full of shaky leaves, edgy starts that didn't materialize into runs, slow progression by his standards instead of the scoreboard streaming ahead in leaps and bounds.

He was twice dropped in the same over, in between which he got past Laxman and survived a run out by a hair's breadth. He went into lunch eight short of the magic mark, dawdled around for a while and then suddenly, in characteristic fashion, slammed a six off Saqlain over mid-wicket to get from 295 to 301. It was almost 1pm.

Back to the declaration: Dravid's reasoning possibly was that every over that India got to bowl on the day would count towards winning. It is a bold logic that few in India - trained by a society that adulates individual achievements - would understand. Forget India, most in the Indian team do not understand the decision.

Sachin himself said he was disappointed at not getting 200 and had no idea the declaration was coming just then.

The Tendulkar drama almost overshadowed Sehwag's effort. But Sachin himself, Sehwag's boyhood hero, was unstinting in his praise. "The 300 was badly needed. Most countries had managed it and India somehow, never had. But Viru did it and it was a fantastic, fabulous effort. He's one of a kind".
 Sehwag's Double Century...........