The cry to delink geography from cricket went unheeded. Appoint three selectors (regardless of their zones), said those unhappy with the system, and give them the job. But it never happened.

While watching the Bangalore match against England, someone pointed out that there was no home boy to cheer for - no Dravid, no Kumble, no Uthappa. But it went further. There was no player from the South in the Indian team. So why should this be a good sign, you ask?

It is a good sign because it means no player has been sacrificed for the quota. Globalisation in one sphere seems to have inspired true nationalism in another (although it would be more correct to call it professionalism). The best team, regardless of zonal affiliations - the dream of the objective cricket watcher has finally come to pass. India have played four matches against England without a single player from the south. S Badrinath was south’s last representative (and doubtless he will come into the side now) to have played. That was against Sri Lanka in Colombo.

What makes all this very significant, and cause for rejoicing is that the chairman of the selectors, Kris Srikkanth is from the south. The killer instinct and the quota instinct - the lack of one and the existence of the other - have been analysed threadbare. Now, gradually, Indian cricket seems to have ingested the one and eliminated the other.

Former captain Sourav Ganguly should take some of the credit for bringing about this twin revolution. He was big on killer instinct, and backed players regardless of where they came from. Success strengthened the captain’s hands - as Dhoni who reportedly had reservations about a recent selection or two - will discover with every passing success.

I feel in general that the attitude of today's young more and more reflects the increased affluence and global respect for India.
Instead of the "Respect elders and behave nicely" mode in which the old india was raised, the new order is being raised in a different environment, one of more confidence, more opportunities...and consequently more aggression.
However,with confidence comes responsibility.And it will be interesting to see if our national cricket followers' character changes from the current "We dont take any crap from anyone. These foreigners behave badly themselves and never get criticized but our men get picked on" to "We are confident about our game. But incidents like gambhir's elbowing and bhajji's outbursts are immature and not in the spirit of the game"

Till such time boys growing up and playing and dreaming cricket in a large state like Bihar do not have a first class team to play for, this talk about professionalism must be taken with loads of salt.

The best thing that has happened to Indian cricket is that to a large extent the epicentre of talent has shifted from the West and South to the North. As a result one does'nt see the metaphorical image of cricket being a gentleman's game alone being on view on the field of play. The adherence to the coaching mannual is also not seen as the ultimate benchmark, which to my mind, caused most of our earlier cricketers appearing to be appologetic even if they were very good.The change we see in our players is actually wonderful because despite the riches that come their way from cricket, they come across as a close knit happy bunch who have humility for most but a touch of arrogance for those who need it.It is not without relevance that this attitudinal change has become noticeable at a time when India is emerging as the major powerhouse in the economic order of the world. Not just in good times but even when recession beckons most other countries in the World.

Ironically, Saurav Ganguly, whom you credit for this transformation, was himself a well-publicized and derided "quota" selection.

Ganguly, without any doubt, deserves all the credit for where the Indian cricket is today. Unfortunately he has never been given due credit for doing this. Your article is good and raises valid issues, but then again one hot day does not make a summer and it remains to be seen whether this attitude in the Indians is here to stay or is just a conincidental occurence. It is too early to make any judgement about the Indian team after victories against an Aussie team which is in the building up process and against an ordinary England team, and that too at home.

Honestly, this quota business that journalists love to talk about vanished long time back. Atleast as far as the international team is concerned. There may have been mistakes made in selection, but to attribute every selection mistake to a quota system is only a product of journalists imagination. It could have been prevalent in the 80's but with the advent of widespread television coverage, I think its has more or less vanished.

A well written piece.. however you seem to have missed out on the fact that Tamilnadu's M Vijjay was in the squad for the first three ODI matches after his credible performance in the Nagpur test... Inspired though his selection may prove to be in the long run.. but the non-inclusion of Aakash Chopra in the test squad and of Badrinath in the ODI squad does raise some questions.. particularly when they have left nothing to chance at the domestic level

Excellent article, it is, to use a somewhat cliched term, Team India that is performing. Let's hope it lasts, but I do think Zaheer,Harbhajan and Gambhir tend to go overboard in their celebrations and attitude. Let's keep things in perspective and not give any room for more sanctions by match referees. The fact that teams like Australia get away with a lot more is neither here nor there, hopefully they will get their come-uppance soon.

What do you call M Vijay's selection if not a quota selection? Also Rohit Sharma seems to have the job of keeping a Bombay quota spot open for Tendulkar. Heaven forbid that when Tendulkar takes a rest , the selectors should select a competent middle order bat. If that happened and there was no way to take Tendulkar back into the team Mr Pawar would go ballistic and we would see the Shiv Sena/MNS style hooliganism repeated. Hence a spot is always kept for Tendulkar by selecting a mediocre middle order bat either Uthappa or Rohit Sharma (preferably Sharma in order to keep the spot in the Bombay kitty)

Interesting observations. Quite a few things have changed in terms of the demographics in the Indian team over the last few years.
I have always believed that the real cricket in India happens in the maidans and streets rather than in schools. But the Indian Cricket Team has always been dominated by players who come up through the school cricket system. Hence, many players were graduates, even engineers. School cricket is never nearly as competitive as the one played in the maidans across India. And that I think reflected in Indian Cricket Team. Always the well-behaved, the suave English-speaking cricketer but lacking that instinct. That change from the school to the maidan has been the biggest transformation in Indian cricket I think. The Dhonis and the Pathans embody that. And it is to the systems credit that these players bring that competitive instinct learned in the maidans to international cricket while still remaining relatively 'gentlemanly'. And I have run out of characters.

Prabuddha, I am surprised that you term M.Vijay's selection a "quota selection" ? True, his inclusion in the Test team was a surprise, but he performed very well, participating in opening partnerships of 98 and 116 with Sehwag and effecting 2 smart run-outs. What more do you expect from a debutant?

Ganguly and John Wright deserve a huge amount of credit for changing the mindset of Indian cricket. Too often it was the Pakistanis who had the killer instinct, Ganguly changed all that, I remember when India played 3 left arm seamers in the team in Tests. I could not believe it. No other country would have dreamed of such a thing, but Ganguly/Wright were picking the 3 best seam bowlers in India, and it didn't matter if they were all left armers, they was the best. That was when I realized Ganguly was a captain to be reckoned with. He also had the guts to drop Kumble or Harbhajan when India played overseas. He realized that India needed pace to get 20 wickets, and he was right. Think of the number of times India played with only one spinner. 3 left arm pace bowlers, unbelievable. A great captain , and shockingly underrated by Indians themselves.

I beg to differ from Taj. I would say, with power comes responsibility. The power is with the selectors. The players only have confidence and talent.

The best tribute one can give to Ganguly! I believe that its the best contribution from the great to the Indian cricket.

india are certainly not the team they used to be in 90s when they had only one or two match winners. They had the stars but not the killers. Now they are a complete coherent unit and i think at the moment they have the larges pool of players to choose from and thats incredible. I still remember when in pakistan we used to talk about this quota thing attached to indian cricket. But clearly the mode has changed and i dun see any problem players sometime getting irretional as long as board doesnt provid them with unfair favours.
ok i know this is question is irrelevent to the topic under discussion but where is Murli Kartik i think he is better than bhaji. i dun know why he was not further picked in india team after his heroics in one of the last few games he played when australia came to india to play an ODI series.

Enough with the eulogies for Ganguly, already! He is certainly fit and capable of playing the tests against England and Pakistan, especially with Dravid in the doldrums and the younglings not showing any evidence of growing up beyond pajama cricket.

And if for some reason the selectors do not ask him back, I think that he has a big role to play as a mental conditioning coach for the team. Heck, if the Indians do not want him, I'd love to see my favorite player put some of the winning ways back into the Baggy Green (sorry, Ricky, beating up on the Kiwis does not count!)

Best part of current aggression and killer instinct in indian team is in right proportion. Have you noticed they were very agrressive and notriously getting under the skin of aussies and are a bit soft with english. That i would say combination of old and new india virutes. "Will respect you as long as you do, will never take crap though".

Pragyan Ojha is from Hyderabad.

@Sanjeeb..that is exactly the kind of mentality that the blog oppoes..championing the cause of a particular state...don't get me wrong even Im from Bihar but the statement smacks of reginal bias...before dhoni was there anyone of note from Jharkhand?@ spinoza maybe I ..dont know the motives behind the selection of Dada, but my friend give the devil his due..he thouroughly deserved to play for india..more so than some players who were probably selected without regional bias..you dont become the 4th (soon to be fifth) highest run scorer in ODI history if you are purely a quota player with no talent and if you have skill like that then you jolly well deseve the backing that you get @ Saumil..my friend one hot day does not make a summer but if you look at us from the past few years than the seasn has definitely been in the offing..right from ganguly 's time(barring the stint under greg), we have been doing consistently well and these victories are not just a flash in the pan..

@Nilesh: giving the devil his due was precisely my point. If it took quota to get Ganguly into the side (reading the archives of rec.sport.cricket would help if you doubt the claim), then maybe there is a legitimate case for a small quota, isn't there?

Yes you are right..it makes a case for a quota ..a small quota of 11 players based on talent..doesnt it?