Worldbeaters Inc Team India gets a rousing reception on their arrival in Delhi
It helped that the team leader behaved like a man schooled in adversity, with a stoic's indifference towards the results of his actions. Dhoni had the gall to play five bowlers in a team whose batting at the point was shaky (Virender Sehwag was dropped). He had the pluck to pick Piyush Chawla, untested till the time, in the two finals. He took the decision to open the bowling with rookie Praveen Kumar. The moves surprised even bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad. "Even I was caught off guard with some of his bowling changes," he said. "He's shown confidence in his bowlers, and they have repaid that trust."
The batting too famously went in with a very young look—and matured en route. Gautam Gambhir, who scored the most runs in the event, says, "It's a great challenge to bat at No. 3, when you have to consolidate and also take the team through to a big total. A good start is everything so it's a great feeling when the captain has the confidence in you...if he's given me the No. 3 position, it's up to me to justify that faith and contribute." Mumbai's young Rohit Sharma, who scored two important half-centuries, echoed Gambhir's words. "The captain had a great role in it, backing the youngsters," he said. "It was a happy group, we've been playing together since our U-19 days and know each other well. Everyone enjoys each other's success."
Dhoni's captaincy drew praise from even the Aussie commentators. "Even at the end, when India had won, when everybody in the Indian team was going berserk, there was Dhoni cool as you like, not even a smile, really, on his face," Ian Chappell noted. "He's a very cool captain, he stayed cool right till the end and he's led this side absolutely brilliantly." Former Australian captain Kim Hughes said of India, "The sleeping giant has awoken. Dhoni has changed the attitude of the Indians...the young players are more desperate, these guys will run through walls for their captain."
A not-too-silent factor in all this was that Dhoni's insistence on youth also lifted the team's fielding. Chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar, after the ODI series loss to Australia last October, had noted that the games were lost by margins that could have been won with better fielding. This time around, under pressure, the young 'uns bore the scrutiny with lots to spare. "A lot of people were worried that the grounds being so big, the fielders wouldn't be able to get in the ball effectively," Robin says. "But they were diving around, cutting off balls like their life depended on it. We had run-outs in practically every game... which proved critical."
Still more critical was the fast bowling, which really rattled the Australians. Ironically, the injury to Zaheer Khan and R.P. Singh threw up new talent, particularly Ishant Sharma. "We always had the talent, only they needed the opportunity to bowl," Prasad says. "Someone like Ishant was waiting for his chance. He surprised everybody with his pace, and also his ability to hit the seam and swing the ball."
Vengsarkar is relieved and pleased with the way the youngsters have delivered. "We knew their potential, and it's only when you field your young players against the best that you know where you really stand," he told Outlook. "They had to play a team like Australia at some point."
But even as the victory flags fly, Team India would do well to not lose sight of the big picture. There are issues that remain, especially in batting. Gambhir and Dhoni were the only ones consistently scoring in the group stage before the master took over in the final. If they, the relatively more experienced players, hadn't come good, India would have stumbled at the league stage itself. True, Rohit Sharma looked very good, and Robin Uthappa made for a makeshift opener, but as they themselves say, they need to be more consistent. Yuvraj Singh, bar a couple of innings, was a major cause for heartburn.
Then, though Ponting insisted his team had dominated the group phase, the fact is the Aussie batting was struggling. In fact, it was their amazing fielding which helped them hide their batting failures. Habitual toppers of the 300-run mark, they managed to do that only once in this series. Was it age? Did the Indians slay a beast that was losing its powers? Robin Singh insists you play only as well as you are allowed to. "And the fact is, we didn't allow them to play as well as they can," he says.
India's last adventure with youth, under Greg Chappell, ended in sourness. "Chappell had made even the seniors insecure, even someone like Tendulkar," a BCCI source familiar with the selection committee's views told Outlook. "His man-management skills were very poor. He may have wanted to build a new team, but you can't do that abruptly. It's important to phase out the seniors with care and thought." This time around, India just might be doing it the right way.
