"We've missed a certain X-factor in the past - that has cost us. But now with certain players I think we are starting to get that," Swann said.
"You look at blokes like Eoin Morgan and Jade Dernbach. They are something different, we are starting to get those match-winners with bat and ball," he added.
England whitewashed India 0-4 in the Test series to rise to the top spot in the ICC rankings.
Swann credited the rise to the advent of some exciting young talent in the side.
"I think the young players who have come in have done amazingly well," he was quoted as saying by the 'Daily Telegraph'.
"While it is easier to come into a successful squad rather than an unsuccessful one, they have more than coped with the step up to international level.
"It's as if they have been there all their lives. That can only be good for England," he added.
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