Speaking exclusively to espnstar.com, former players said that India's win in New Zealand is a real special one.

By Girish Bubna and Sudeer Mahavaadi

A member of the national selection panel, Yashpal Sharma said that he is proud of the Indian team.

"We are proud of this Indian team and as a selector I am very happy," said Sharma.

A former player of the Indian team Ashok Malhotra said that the series victory is a great achievement by the team.

"This series victory has been great. We went to create history and have made it. Zaheer Khan bowling could be compared to that of Wasim Akram's.

"Sachin was at his best. This was a huge positive of this tour. The minuses though are Yuvraj's batting and Ishant Sharma's average show with the new ball," said Malhotra.

Ashok Malhotra also said that the whole team is gelling well. He was disappointed with the draw on the last day of the final Test but was overall happy with the performance.

"As we say the captain is as good as the team but in this case it looked the Indian team was as good as the captain. Dhoni factor is one of the main factors and without him this would have been difficult.

"We missed the bus in the last Test today, I will not blame only the skipper but the team management has to share the blame. We could have easily won the series 2-0," said Malhotra.

Former left-arm spinner Maninder Singh was all praise for the Indian team. He said that the entire line-up is so fantastic that it looks unbeatable. Maninder also called Dhoni a bit lucky in the Tests that he has led as skipper.

"Dhoni is a good ODI skipper but in the Tests he has been lucky.

"It's a very good balanced side. In the middle order they have thirty thousand runs between them and our openers are the best in the world. Dhoni is so successful, it's a fantastic line-up. Ishant was the only disappointment but overall it's a great side," said Maninder.

Maninder also was disappointed that India lost a golden chance of finishing the series with a 2-0 win. He said that since the management was well aware of the conditions they should have gone for the win earlier.

"I think they should have gone for a win since they were well aware about the conditions. The middle order have played more than 300 Tests among them and the coach too has played 100 matches, so they should have guided the team. I am disappointed that we could not win 2-0," Maninder concluded.

Meanwhile, former India captain Ajit Wadekar congratulated Dhoni's boys on the historic series win, saying he was personally delighted with the feat.

"The future looks even better. We are the best side at present and it would not be long before we top the world rankings."

Wadekar feels the blend of youth and experience worked very well for the Indians in their recent run of success.

"Gautam Gambhir has been superb, Sachin Tendulkar showed his class while Rahul Dravid roared back to form.

Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh were brilliant with the ball and all that helped us seal the series."

Former Indian spinner Bapu Nadkarni said that had it not been for the Kiwi fightback in the second Test, India could have won with a much better margin.

"VVS Laxman's hundred actually saved us in Napier but overall, this has been an amazing achievement.

"All the bowlers did well although I thought Munaf Patel was a little under bowled through the series."

Shivlal Yadav, another former India cricketer hailed Dhoni's leadership and the consistency of the seniors in the team.

"I know it can be difficult playing in New Zealand but we have shown that we can win in any condition. We have won in West Indies, England and Australia."