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Dubai: Conquering the lion in its own den is exactly what the Indians did by beating the Aussies on their homesoil. To finish off a best-of-three finals through two back-to-back victories speaks volumes of their team spirit and determination.
Conquering the world champions, especially the Australians, is a dream that every team has, but to do it on their own soil makes it doubly sweet.
Sachin Tendulkar, the only veteran left in the team, has literally opened the doors for a great future for Indian cricket through his two great knocks.
The Australian team may never be the same again and it will take a while for them to recover from this humiliating blow.
Though many teams are ranked much higher than India, Dhoni & co looked like the only team that could have stopped the Australians. They always had the measure of the Australians but simply lacked the confidence to go for the kill. Ever since they matched them in wordy duels as well as their arrogance on the field, Australia just looked like an ordinary team.
The presence of the big names in the Australian team never really rattled players like Gautam Gambhir, Sreesanth, Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma or Praveen Kumar.
The impact
If Australia have to continue with their domination, they will have to quickly usher in new faces now. The impact of the exit of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne was evident and with Adam Gilchrist too having called it a day, they will have to work hard to regain their consistency. It would be no surprise if Michael Clark replaces Ponting as the new captain in the rebuilding process.
The vital point in India's success is the emergence of the youngsters. They conquered the Aussies in the Twenty20 format and now in one-day version too.
Vintage Tendulkar once again silenced his critics, announcing that age has not dwindled his run scoring ability nor reduced his appetite for huge knocks.
In a final win there has to be a hero and 22-year-old Praveen Kumar Sakat Singh, which is his full name, hogged the limelight. This youngster from Uttar Pradesh had forced his way into the team with some deadly performances in the Ranji Trophy.
With India also having won the Under-19 World Cup, could this be the start of India's domination in world cricket?
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