Scotland, Kenya and Zimbabwe apart, India were perhaps the least fancied side going into the Twenty20 World Cup. In the space of a fortnight, inspired by the wonderful leadership skills of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and fuelled by collective self-belief, an exciting young side has now conquered the world, adding the Twenty20 World Cup to the extraordinary 1983 World Cup triumph charted by Kapil Dev's warriors.

If the Class of '83 will forever be remembered as Kapil's Devils, then the band of '07 will go down in history as Dhoni's Daredevils. Whether they themselves were convinced that they had it in them to go all the way is besides the point. What can't be disputed is that, particularly after a disastrous campaign that threatened to disillusion the fans, they have got the adrenaline pumping again, reiterating that there is life beyond the Tendulkars, the Dravids, the Gangulys and the Kumbles.

The teeming thousands that braved heavy rains to line the streets of Mumbai and cheer the Indian team's motorcade on from the airport to the Wankhede stadium on Wednesday morning were merely expressing their thanksgiving and appreciation for an outstanding run in South Africa. From game one, the Indians approached the Twenty20 World Cup with tigerish resolve, ready for a scrap and unprepared to take a backward step. As a unit, they came together in spectacular fashion, unearthing different heroes for every crisis, parading a brand of cricket that was exhilarating and entertaining as they took Pakistan, England, South Africa, Australia and Pakistan again -- famously, in the final -- in their stride.
There was no bigger hero than the captain himself. This was Dhoni's first big test. It was a test he came through with flying colours, and not necessarily because the team went all the way. Long before S Sreesanth completed the catch which crowned Indians as the World Cup winners, Dhoni had impressed with his calmness and composure under severe pressure, leading with imagination and inspiration.

That a man with such little experience of captaincy took to the job with the practised ease of a virtuoso came as a pleasant surprise. The 26-year-old refused to allow the cares of captaincy to detract from either his wicket-keeping skills or indeed his impact with the bat. Even in what is commonly referred to disparagingly as 'disco cricket', 'the hit-and-miss game' or 'a lottery', Dhoni caught the eye with his flair, making sure that the team never lost focus or got ahead of itself. Searching examinations for India's new one-day captain lie in the immediate future; on the evidence of what has transpired over the last two weeks, there is no reason why he shouldn't take to that job too like a duck to water.

There wasn't one Indian player that didn't rise to the occasion. Understandably, the flamboyant Yuvraj Singh walked away with most of the encomiums, and why not?! After all, 12-ball fifties, six sixes in an over and 30-ball 70s against the World champions are hardly everyday occurrences. The Chandigarh left-hander was the greatest 'impact player' for India through the competition, but only marginally ahead of Rudra Pratap Singh.
At 21, RP Singh is still a work in progress. It boggles the mind to imagine what he will achieve when he is indeed the finished product. Slipping comfortably into the role of the bowling spearhead, the left-arm paceman showcased the virtue of taking wickets even in the ultra-condensed game, ending up with 12 wickets without perhaps getting the credit exceptional performances deserved. Didn't they say something about cricket being a batsman's game?!

Exuberance
The exuberance and enthusiasm of the young turks, most notably Rohit Sharma and Robin Uthappa, rubbed off on the more experienced players in the side. The buoyant, electric India that was on the money in the field bore no resemblance to the shoddy, lacklustre, lethargic fielding unit that did duty in the one-day series in England. Many teams found out the hard way that this was the bold new India, not waiting for things to happen but determined to shape their destiny with their own hands.

As much as the young lads — we must not forget the patchy but crucial contributions of Joginder Sharma as well as Sreesanth — the returning troika too had its moments. Virender Sehwag began in a blaze of glory before tapering away with a groin problem, while Harbhajan Singh manfully shouldered responsibility, even if he was reduced to a bundle of nerves by Misbah-ul-Haq in the final. Irfan Pathan, however, was the one that shone the brightest, bowling with great purpose and control and suggesting a return to the days when, particularly with the new ball, he was such a potent threat with the ball that swung back prodigiously in to the right-hander.

Stand-out performer
The Player of the Final award could so easily have gone to either Gautam Gambhir, another stand-out performer, or to RP Singh. Pathan eventually was conferred with that honour, but there was no griping or whining. This was a unit determined to enjoy success — not just one's own but also each other's. An Aussie trait that, but who said everything about the Aussies was bad?

And to think that India were the last of the cricketing powers to embrace the Twenty20 concept! Reluctantly, almost as quid pro quo for the right to host the 2011 World Cup, India signed on the Twenty20 dotted line. From such slender threads do fairytales emerge.

So, where does all this leave the old boys? Still very much in the mix, actually. Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly chose to skip the Twenty20 experience on their own terms, but they will form vital cogs in the one-day series against Australia and Pakistan at home over the next five weeks. What the Twenty20 success has done is allow the selectors to gradually phase out the blooding of youngsters in the 50-over game, setting the stage for a seamless transition over the next 18 or so months.

Level-headed as Dhoni is, he will realise that while the tag of Twenty20 World Cup-winning skipper will always sit alongside him, he has tougher, more demanding challenges ahead. The African Safari has given him the luxury of a few setbacks early in his captaincy career, but the Jharkhandi has never been known to sit on his laurels. He will demand as much commitment and togetherness from a vastly more experienced one-day side full of proven big names, and at least three former captains. How his no-nonsense approach sits with the big guns will unravel fascinatingly over the next few days. These are exciting times for Indian cricket, promise, potential and performance combining snugly to hold out the hope of a bright, bright future.