It's unlikely that the disappointment of first-round elimination at the World Cup proper in the Caribbean will ever fade away, but subsequent events meant despite the poor start to the year, Indian cricket had plenty to cheer about in 2007.
It was as dramatic a 12-month period as there has been. The disaster of the World Cup was succeeded by a first Test series win in England since 1986, close on the heels of which came India's first triumph in a Test series against Pakistan at home since 1980. In between came the mother of all triumphs — the unexpectedly exhilarating run at the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa which culminated in first-time skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni holding aloft the trophy one emotional September evening at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.
The reception the team was accorded on its return to Mumbai was raucous and touching, to say the least. Braving heavy rains, thousands lined the streets of India's commercial capital to welcome the heroes back; the open-top motorcade transformed the one-hour drive into more than four times its scheduled duration, but no one was complaining. It was a sweet, sweet moment, the young turks catching the imagination with their fearless, entertaining brand of cricket in a version that demands precisely those virtues. For just a little while, it was almost as if the other World Cup hadn't happened at all!
Defeat to Bangladesh in their World Cup opener in Port of Spain effectively ended India's campaign, a further loss to Sri Lanka merely confirming early elimination. It was a bitter pill to swallow. India had gone into the quadrennial event one of the more fancied teams, the conditions in the Caribbean expected to suit their rich array of stroke-makers and two world-class spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh. Instead, one morning of diffidence from the batsmen and the same afternoon of mayhem unleashed by Bangladesh's youngsters, with Tamim Iqbal in the forefront, dashed the hopes of a billion people. The very same men that had left as heroes slunk home defeated and disgraced no more than three weeks later, post-mortems and recriminations abounding.
In the aftermath of the disaster, coach Greg Chappell chose not to seek an extension, his decision no doubt influenced by a comment from Sachin Tendulkar that he would be 'very disappointed' if, after all these years, 'someone questioned my commitment.' Skipper Rahul Dravid opted to battle on when it must have been oh-so-tempting to also chuck it away, though as the year went on, he too called it quits, going out on a high and on his own terms.
One of India's more successful but less celebrated captains — under him, India won Test series in the West Indies and England, apart from stacking up their first Test win in South Africa — found the demands of being the Indian skipper a little too much. It wasn't any one thing that made his mind up for him; he had had just about enough, and a little after India returned home after an 11-week tour of Ireland and England, he abdicated the throne, resulting in the first split captaincy in the history of Indian cricket.
Twenty20 skipper Dhoni was elevated to the one-day captaincy, while Anil Kumble finally, most belatedly, became the Test captain, and that only because Tendulkar turned down the offer. Almost by default, India's selectors picked the right man for the job. At 37, Kumble has little left to prove to anyone. He has hitherto adapted admirably to the demands of captaincy, but his biggest challenge is currently under way.
Dravid's decision to quit the captaincy didn't create the kind of void Chappell's departure has done. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) dawdled over a replacement, and when they eventually chose to appoint Graham Ford, the former South African coach left them red-faced by retracting on an initial promise to take up the job. Ironically, India produced their best results without having a coach — Chandu Borde was the cricket manager on the tour of England, while Lalchand Rajput was at the helm both during the Twenty20 triumph and the home series against Pakistan.
Only last month, former South African opener Gary Kirsten was pulled out like a rabbit from the hat and appointed to the coach's post. Kirsten is presently only a consultant and will join the team in Australia for a short period; prior commitments will not allow him to take full charge until next March. How the BCCI loves to stumble from one embarrassment to another!
India had mixed results in one-day cricket, the World Cup trauma aside. They drew with the West Indies and defeated Sri Lanka, both at home and both before the World Cup. Since then, they overcame Bangladesh away, came from behind to stun South Africa in Ireland, competed brilliantly before losing 3-4 in England and completely dominated Pakistan before scoring an unflattering 3-2 win at home last month. Between England and Pakistan, they were put in their place by Ricky Ponting's Australia, who eked out a 4-2 win in India to prove that not without good reason are they the World champions and World Cup winners over the last three editions.
In Test cricket, India's sole defeat came in the year's first week, against South Africa in Cape Town. Since then, they have won three and drawn five matches. Kumble and the rest of the country will be hoping the last week of the year doesn't follow the same pattern as the first!
