India’s path to No 1 glory

At the end of the Greg Chappell era,post the 2007 World Cup,Indian cricket was in turmoil. Dhonis young brigade did bring some solace by winning the inaugural T20 World Cup,but they were still without a coach when they traveled to Australia for a four-Test series later that year.

By the time the team returned from their controversy-ridden tour,beaten 2-1 in the Test series,South Africa were already waiting for them at home. It was in this scenario that Kirsten officially took over.

It wasnt like Gary came only to make the India the No 1 team in the world. The long-term goal was to achieve the top spot,but we were concentrating more on our short-term goals. It took us 18 months of hard work to reach here, said Dhoni.

Opener Virender Sehwag welcomed Kirsten to the Indian dressing-room by smashing the Proteas for 319,but India succumbed to an innings defeat in the second Test in Ahmedabad,and an injury to skipper Anil Kumble led to a change of guard as Dhoni took over for the Kanpur Test. On a turning track that kicked up quite a storm,he kicked off an unbeaten run to level the series 1-1.

With Dhoni already in charge in the shorter versions,the skipper and the coach diametrically different in terms of personality started to forge a working relationship that not only instilled confidence in the team but also acted as a balm for the fear and insecurity of the two preceding years.

Golden run

When Dhoni finally took over in the longer format as well once Kumble retired with an injury midway through the Australia series,shortly after a 2-0 defeat to Ajantha Mendiss mystery spin in Sri Lanka it seemed to start a golden run. All the frontline batsmen playing in India and away in New Zealand have since averaged over 40,with openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag repeatedly giving India good starts,averaging 77.54 and 58.29 respectively.

One good thing is that weve,more or less,seen the same team play most of the matches. There havent been too many injuries. Naturally,there were games where some individuals stood out and carried the whole team, Dhoni said.

The heroes started to become more varied Tendulkar led India to an emotional win in Chennai against England,who had returned after going back home midway through the tour following the Mumbai terror attack,and then struck a masterly 160 to help register a crucial win in the first Test in New Zealand. In the second at Napier,Gambhir spent more than 10 hours at the crease to save the match,giving the side their first series win in the country in over 40 years.

Dravid,in a lean patch over the last year,then reinforced his value against Sri Lanka,finishing with an average of 108.25. He first saved India the blushes with a fighting century at Ahmedabad,where they were reduced to 32 for four on the first morning,and then added another ton in Kanpur.

Rest of the world

While India were recording all these series wins against Australia,England,New Zealand and Sri Lanka they were helped along the way by what was happening in the rest of the world. Table-toppers Australia,in a freefall after the retirement of eight of the senior players over a 24-month period,lost the Ashes series to England two years after a thumping 5-0 win.

They then lost out on valuable points by going down in their home series to South Africa,who seemed to be emerging as the clear front-runners in world cricket until the Aussies hit back like only theyve been known to. Pontings team went to South Africa still licking the wounds of their defeat,but crushed the Proteas in the first Test at Johannesburg to set the tone for a 2-1 victory. That result ensured South Africa did not open up an unassailable lead at the top.

Going into the India vs Sri Lanka series,the Proteas were still on top with 122 points,Lanka second on 120,India third on 119,and Australia fourth on 116 all very close for a series shake-up in the months to follow.

India have been the first beneficiaries of this flux,reaching the top slot for the first time since the rankings became official eight years ago. But with Dhonis team not playing too many Tests in the coming months (South Africa are starting a home series against England next week,and Australia have back-to-back series with West Indies and New Zealand),the Indian skipper admitted that maintaining their position slot would not be easy.

It is a bit of concern that we are playing just two Test matches in the next six months, Dhoni said. But weve done something remarkable,so we would rather celebrate it than thinking about the future.