India have not set foot on the summit by stepping off a helicopter, they have got there after establishing several base camps and making steady, sometimes hazardous, progress. India's ascent is not a point, it is the current status of a curve; it is not a moment in time but part of a phase. Any attempt to think otherwise would be unfair and shortsighted.
And so while India must celebrate, it must be with a sense of history. This lot of players have put the ribbon on the box but the cake was baked by many; they have scored a goal but you cannot do so unless someone has passed the ball to you. And that is why the only aspect of this moment that disturbs me is the cash award to this team. I am not a huge fan of cash awards to professional players, they are presumably paid to win anyway, but this announcement ignores the fact that various others set it up over the last five years.
In particular, India have been served by three very fine captains before the hugely impressive current incumbent. Very few good teams win with inadequate leaders anyway. Under Sourav Ganguly, India realised that winning overseas was an option and India have much to thank a player the world found very convenient to misunderstand. Rahul Dravid was the perfect captain to follow with his strong commitment to the team and to the cause. It is easily forgotten that under him India won in the West Indies for the first time in thirty five years and in England for the first time in twenty one. And Anil Kumble was leader at a decisive moment in Indian cricket; in Australia in 2008 where the Test win in Perth must rank as significant as the win at Kolkata in 2001.
Don't forget too that Mahendra Singh Dhoni's current record reads played 10, won seven, lost zero. Included in that is a series win against Australia, an away win in New Zealand and now against Sri Lanka. There are no freebies there. Something is right in Indian cricket.
Indeed India's current position is good for world cricket, as indeed South Africa's little reign at the top was. Three teams competing for number one is always better for the sport than a giant blocking everyone's path. But I am a little concerned at the state of denial in some parts of the world, with the difficulty in acknowledging this, with the continued devaluation of India winning in India not accompanied by a similar status to Australia winning at home or for that matter South Africa or England. India's winning streak has not been due to financial jugglery, which is a convenient myth in itself, but due to good cricket. To assign other reasons, and what a pity that is being attempted, is to undermine players of extraordinary pedigree.
And these are not just batsmen. True, Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Ganguly, Yuvraj, Dhoni (even Jaffer and Karthik at key moments) are extraordinary players and they have set up many victories but to focus on them would be unfair to those who take twenty wickets. Against England, home and away, Zaheer Khan was player of the series, against Australia it was the very impressive Ishant Sharma who will soon be leading India's attack again. Amit Mishra and Sreesanth have had their moments in the sun and Harbhajan has taken more wickets than many of us think he has.
But as with all success, India must celebrate the moment and move on. Australia and South Africa are fine teams and Sri Lanka have just the man to drive their transition. And as business leaders will tell you it is more difficult to stay on top than to get there. India need to groom batting replacements and there are only two on the horizon, the scarcely tested Murali Vijay and the untested Cheteshwar Pujara. Harbhajan Singh desperately needs competition to take him to another level but more important, India will have to find a way to ensure that players of serious ability like Rohit Sharma, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma and RP Singh don't lose their way. And it will call for people with vision at the top. They exist but they are in a bit of a melee at the moment with others of various hues and political colour.
Isn't it ironic though that for a country accused of devaluing the game, India are struggling in T20 cricket but are atop the summit of the most traditional form of the game. Maybe there is a story there.
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