Indian Cricket In The 21st Century-------> Then......Now.......Beyond.............

                  Indian Cricket In The 21st Century

                                                 It was the year 2000. World of Cricket was changing. Metamorphosis was taking place through the match-fixing scandal. Indication of power-shift, rise of new super-power was there but it was not realized. Every cricketer was reeling under pressure, pressure and tension as to who will be accused of match-fixing next. They were shocked to find that the person with whom they have shared the room on several tours, was a fixer. Md. Azharuddin (the then Indian Captain) and Ajay Jadeja (the then Indian vice-captain) were found guilty and suspended.  This period was described by the BBC as "the Indian cricket's worst hour". The world believed that it was perhaps the beginning of the end of Indian Cricket. But they were wrong. It was the beginning of a new morning, beginning of a new journey. 
                                         

                                             Due to stepping down of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly was chosen to lead India and he along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid & Anil Kumble took the pledge to change the face of Indian Cricket. It was easy to say but very difficult in reality. Several young people joined the Indian side during this time. Some of them who made it big in the latter stages were Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Kaif (though not so successful), Irfan Pathan etc.
                                              Under Sourav Ganguly began the Renaissance of Indian Cricket. The World of Cricket for the first time started to have a taste of what India can do not only in their own country but also outside the sub-continent. India became a formidable force at home by ending the 16 consecutive winning streak of the Australian team under Steve Waugh, thus forcing him to publicly recognize India as the "Final Frontier".
                                             In the foreign soil also the Indian Team was enjoying themselves. In the 2000 edition of the Champions Trophy India reached the finals only to be defeated by New Zealand. Along the way the entire nation saw the birth of Yuvraj Singh whose 84 helped India secure victory against Australia, thus throwing them out of the tournament. Ganguly was at his level best as he smashed centuries against the Proteas in the Semi-finals and another century in the finals. It was just the beginning.
                                      


                                          India went on winning series in Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, West Indies, England and during this time took place the famous Natwest Trophy Final. India chased down the record 326 run target set by the English Army. India were joint winners in the Champions Trophy which took place in Sri Lanka in 2002.
                                           In 2003 India reached the World Cup Finals but were defeated poorly by the Australian Team. It was a great achievement since 1983. 
                                           Indian Cricket was progressing at a steady pace at this time. Next they locked horns against the mighty Aussies in their own background and fought with them on equal terms. The series was leveled 1-1. Their victory over Pakistan in Pakistan in both the Test Series and the ODIs was a great achievement.
                                           Every good thing has an end and it gives way to something different. Changes are necessary and changes can be good as well as bad. In Indian Cricket also another change of power took place.
                                      

                Sourav Chandidas Ganguly was dropped because of poor form and Rahul Dravid replaced him as the new captain. India achieved a lot under Rahul Dravid but he had a rather mixed bag of success. Under him India recorded the record 17 successive victories while batting 2nd. India also reached the 2nd spot in the ICC ODI ranking after successful series versus Sri Lanka and South Africa at home. Progress was happening but somehow it slowed down at this point of time with defeats in South Africa in the test matches, disastrous performance in the Champions Trophy and the ODI series defeat against the Proteas in South Africa itself.
                                     


                                            This period saw the emergence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina. Players like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan and some others have improved a lot. Sachin Tendulkar was in form, Sourav Ganguly has also made his comeback. But all these couldn't save India from an early exit from the 2007 World Cup, an event that made the Nation cry, literally a blackspot in Indian Cricket history. The fall of Indian Cricket was predicted by many. The Critics said that they can hear the drums of destruction beating. Sadly they couldn't hear that another soft tune was also flowing through the air.
                                         It was the year 2007 itself when the wind was again changing in Indian Cricket. Following the 2007 World Cup debacle Rahul Dravid stepped down as Captain and Anil Kumble took over in the test Arena while Mahendra Singh Dhoni (aka MSD) became the Captain in the ODIs and the T20s. Nobody realised what great things awaited India amidst some very unhappy results.
                                     
                 T20 got introduced in a bigger way. T20 World Cup was organised and everybpdy was excited at the prospect of experiencing something new. Gautam Gambhir entered team India in a strong way and gave India the solution of a left-handed opener. 
               India lead by MSD won the inaugural T20
World CUP in 2007, a perfect platform through which MSD announced to the World that he has arrived. And it was an arrival of the highest quality. Indian Cricket started to scale new heights under him slowly.
               In Tests it was Anil Kumble who was leading the side well. The infamous Australian Tour happened where India lost 2-1 but nobody can forget the win at Perth in which the Aussies played 4 pacers and India won with the help of spinners with Anil Kumble leading the pack. In the same tour India won the ODI series by literally thrashing the Australians under MSD's captaincy with Sachin scoring Century in the Finals.
                                        During this time two legends of indian Cricket ---Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly-- retired in the same series against Australia in 2008 which India won 2-0. In his last innings MSD allowed SCG to captain India when the 9th wicket of Australia fell, a gesture which is worth appreciating.
                                        In ODIs Indian Team was achieving more success with MSD given the title as the 'Man with the Golden Arm'. India became the No. 1 test team during this time by beating Sri Lanka and retained that position by drawing the series against South Africa. India also won the Asia Cup in 2010 under MSD.Indian Cricket was in the right track.
                                        In T20s however India was not being able to make any notable progress with team getting eliminated early in both the 2009 and 2010 T20 World Cup.

                                        Come 2011 and the rise on Indian Team reached a new height when India lifted the World Cup after 28 years. It was the moment that filled the entire nation with pride and happiness. Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the MoM and Yuvraj SIngh the MoS of the tournament. Dhoni cracked an unbeaten 91* in thefinal.
                                         But the principle of life is you cannot have happiness all the time. Off-form is a part of every Cricketer's life. In every team at some point some players suffer through this. But when it affects the entire team then it becomes dangerous. It happened to Indian Cricket also. Not once but twice. The old disease of playing in foreign soil, the old ghost of the 1970's-80's came back to haunt the team. Everybody was out of shape, everybody.
                                        India lost both the Tours of England and Australia 4-0, a complete whitewash in both the series, which sparked fresh controversies regarding the tactics employed by
Dhoni. If Test Series was not everything, the ODIs just fueled the crisis. The Asia Cup defeat just acted like a catalyst. Talks were there to remove MSD as Captain and bring somebody new. But the selectors decided to stick with him.
                                        Indian Cricket is again going through a building procedure. The team is again being built just like back in 2000. Nobody knows who will take over after MSD leaves. But everybody wants the betterment of Indian Cricket.
                                        Under Dhoni the Indian team looks safe though there are several gaps that needs to be filled. Every Country is going through this building procedure like India. Indian Cricket has progressed a lot since 2000. We can only look towards the future and pray for something magnificent to take place.
                                        The upcoming Champions Trophy is going to be a Test for many Cricketers who are going to represent India in future. People say that MSD has achieved everything in life and that he has nothing to prove. I would say that he has achieved very less in life and I feel that he also says the same thing to himself. Because the day you feel that you have achieved everything is the day you will stop growing, stop progressing and loose the hunger to succeed.
                                        India today has got a bunch of talent eager to show their potential in the bigger arena. The bench strength is also good. With the likes of Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Ashwin etc Indian Cricket's future appears to be bright. With proper guidance they can be trained to become brave soldiers of Indian Cricket. Most importantly a new Leader will be needed in future and still it's shrouded in darkness as to who will be the next Captain. I am sure that somebody really potential is out there.

                                   


          Eagerly looking forward to the future of Indian Cricket. The Journey has just begun.