Is the Indian cricket team on to something here?

The Indian cricket team won its seventh straight 50-over international last night after a mighty battle with the Lankan tigers. That in and by itself does not excite me very much. It is how they are doing it that has made me sit up and take notice.

We have learnt from the Australian sides over the last 15 years, and the West Indian sides of 15 years before that, that champion sides demonstrate some interesting characteristics:

• Most of their performances are made up of many useful contributions, rather than a huge & dominating individual performance
• Absence of a few experienced players does not hold them back, in fact the replacements are able to fill their shoes admirably
• Even in difficult situations their confidence enables them to find ways to win. They are never out of a game, and scrap till the very end
• The champion teams are willing to risk the occassional loss to search for a win each and every time
• Their confidence shows in their attitude on and off the field

I am seeing some of these characteristics emerge in the current Indian performances. Their highest individual score in the two wins is well under a hundred, absences of key players like Sehwag have not made a difference, loss of early wickets has not changed their attacking approach, and they have hung in there and found ways to win.

We are perhaps seeing something special emerge here, while Australia are headed exactly in the opposite direction in terms of demonstrating these characteritics in their performances.

I am keeping my fingers crossed while following this exciting team!