Team India is presently experiencing a great format change just like the one following the 2011 World Cup where the generation of icons such as Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were retiring. Those stages are usually difficult when young players come to occupy the place of experienced stars. The team management is currently working on creating a new core that will be able to take Indian cricket in the next decade.
In 2011-12, India had gone through a challenging tour of Australia that began with a loss of 0-4 in the Test series. There were also 2 T20Is and a tri series with Sri Lanka which proved to be a learning experience to the new look Indian side. It was the period when the team had to start anew after several years of superiority of older players.
The team was then left with over fifty percent of its players at the age of 25 years and below with youngsters such as Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit Sharma. These were players who were still in their global tours. Once, Captain MS Dhoni jokingly likened the change of energy in the team to the one that drives changing the soft music of Kishore Kumar to the energetic music of Sean Paul – the new, young atmosphere in the dressing room.
“Our one-day squad looks very different. It’s lot more noisy and lift the dressing room atmosphere. People pull each other’s legs and it’s more lively. It’s very, very different. It’s like you have come from Kishore Kumar to Sean Paul! It’s that kind of difference. It’s very noisy. It’s a very different generation of players. As for me, I keep adjusting. A mix of everything is good. From classical to rap music of latest version,” MS Dhoni said ahead of the first T20I during the 2011-12 tour of Australia (via India Today).
India lost the first T20I series opener in Sydney by 31 runs, but tied the series at 1-1 with an eight-wicket victory in Melbourne. Ravindra Jadeja, an all-rounder, received his first player of the match award in his T20I career after going 1-16 in the second match.
Team India Announces Tour of Australia: Three ODIs and Five T20Is in Oct-Nov
The Men in Blue are now in plans of making another visit to Australia after a 2-0 home win over the West Indies. In his maiden stint as a captain, Shubman Gill will take the chair of the team in the three game series starting on October 19. The T20I team, in its turn, will have five match preparations starting October 29 before the 2026 T20 world cup.
The Indian group has come to Perth before the beginning of the series in Optus Stadium. The series is also a comeback of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the international cricket after seven months.
