India are one of the giants of world cricket across all formats. There seems to be an aura of confidence in the players of today, and the likes of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni have played an important role in turning this team into world-beaters.
However, it is important to remember some of the former cricketers, including Sourav Ganguly, who changed the Men in Blue's approach. There was a time when India lacked that killer punch, and it was the firebrand of cricket, which was brought into the picture by Ganguly.
They began to be aggressive on the field, did not mind sledging when provoked on the field by their opponents. It would not be wrong to say that Ganguly began a new era of India cricket.
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has been following India cricket closely, and has played against all India cricketers in the last decade or so, which includes Kohli, Dhoni and Ganguly. He has seen India take rapid strides in world cricket, but he gives massive credit to the 'Prince of Calcutta', who changed the mindset of India cricketers.
"Sourav Ganguly, I feel, deserves a lot of credit for having changed India's approach and style of play. He wanted his team to be aggressive and play a tough brand of cricket," Clarke told The Telegraph, Calcutta.
"The captains after Sourav have upheld that brand. Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni, Virat... All different individuals, with their own style of captaincy, but they've remained faithful to the brand introduced by Sourav."
Now, India captain Kohli is just following the same brand of cricket, and it has helped him achieve success. Kohli, one can say, has taken that energy level, passion mixed with aggressive brand of cricket to another level.
However, Kohli's biggest test will lie in the coming away tours, which will test his character too. India, under Ganguly, started to win matches abroad, and now it is Kohli's turn to achieve the same.
