Exactly a year ago, India woke up to images of their cricketers sitting in the Port-of-Spain dressing room, watching in disbelief as India crashed out of the 2007 World Cup after losing to Sri Lanka.

Two days later, the cricketers were whisked through the domestic terminal instead of exiting through the international one in the dead of the night, escorted by armed guards. In the World Cup aftermath, public sentiment expectedly was against the cricketers.

There were fears of people losing interest in the game and its popularity crashing. However, one year on, cricket is king again and its future in India, never been so bright.

Today, the Indian team is challenging Australia for a top spot. The last 12 months have seen a Test series win in England after 21 years, the Twenty20 World Cup triumph, the Perth Test victory and the CB series glory.

Homecoming

“When the team was to come back on March 25, after crashing out of the World Cup, BCCI had to make sure the players were provided proper protection. Armed guards had to be posted at the players’ homes. Even Board officials were not spared by the media and public,” BCCI Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty recalled. Chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar described the World Cup loss as “just two bad games.”

“Since the World Cup exit, we have not looked back. We are No 2 in Test cricket and No 4 in ODIs. It has been a fantastic turnaround,” Vengsarkar told yesterday.

Change

India lost two of their three World Cup matches and to say the nation was in mourning would be an understatement. Ravi Shastri was appointed interim manager after Greg Chappell chose not to extend his contract, and the team nucleus was retained.

What sparked the amazing turnaround? “The good thing Board president Sharad Pawar did was to write to associations, to use it as an opportunity to introspect and overcome shortcomings at the association level. It helped us to set things in order.

Even though the public bashed the Board for not taking major steps, it was quietly setting things in order. The opinions of former captains in the post-World Cup meeting were constructive. Even Chappell’s inputs were accepted. A few things were implemented across the Board.

“The appointment of Shastri as interim manager was important. He had been a successful cricketer and could deal with players at his own level,” said Shetty.

Vision

Now, to selection. “It is not just about picking players. There has to be vision. Two bad games do not make them bad cricketers. It’s easy to panic in such situations and make wholesale changes. But, I am glad that we did not panic and stuck to our guns,” said Vengsarkar.

Another fall-out of the loss was that public sentiment - and even a few Board officials - demanded a ceiling on advertisements and a performance-based contract system. But now, with the Indian Premier League (IPL), players will earn more than ever before.

“Even then (last year), opinion was divided on the issue. Everyone knows cricketers get endorsements only if they are successful. The best example is Sourav Ganguly when he was out of the team for a year,” said Shetty.

Chandu Borde too played his part. Even though the 74-year-old’s appointment  as manager for the tour of UK drew ridicule in many quarters, Borde’s calming influence worked for the team. “Everyone is talking about the CB series win and Perth Test, but the winning streak started in the UK,” said Borde.

“The players were under pressure after the World Cup loss. I told them in the first meeting that I wanted to be their friend and not a boss. I asked the youngest member of the squad  Piyush Chawla  to speak in the first team meeting. The fears disappeared,” said Borde.

Strength to strength

Vengsarkar stressed that on current form India should soon be No 1. “We have narrowed the gap with Australia. We should become No 1 soon.”

Shetty felt that it was a shot that Indian cricket needed. “In hindsight, the World Cup loss was a blessing in disguise which everyone administrators, players and Board needed. Now, we are not sitting on our laurels and only looking ahead.

“The Board has got strategic plans which could be unveiled in May.”

Doubtless, the players have done some wonderful things. Which country can boast of being ousted from a World competition and then win another (World Twenty20) in a matter of six months.  Indian cricket continues to be unique.