The tour of Ireland sets the ball rolling for India. A none-too-important match versus Ireland will be followed by a three-match one-day series against South Africa in Belfast. Thereafter, it will be over to the Test series against England. That’s the beginning of a hectic season of cricket and a journey of re-discovery.

Post England, India will find themselves busy at the Twenty20 World Cup, hosting Australia and Pakistan and then embark on the toughest assignment of them all - a Test and one-day tri-series in Australia.

The hallmark of all these could be the young and exciting newcomers who may gradually start becoming a part of this Indian team. However, this tough year ahead will also open a new chapter for the Big Three in Indian cricket - Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

The trio has a collective experience of 25,851 Test runs scored across the world, with Tendulkar now entering the 18th year of his international career and Dravid and Ganguly in their 11th.

In the wee hours of Wednesday Team India left on a new journey, abroad a British Airways flight.

Without a coach at the helm, Dravid has hinted that it will up to the seniors to guide the team in the next couple of assignments. “We have a fielding and a bowling coach now. As far as the batting is concerned, myself, Sachin and Sourav have enough experience,” he says.

With no new coach in sight, there is no doubt that the three seniors will have to do a lot more than just scoring runs. “You cannot start saying that this is a new chapter for the three of us or anything like that. It’s just very cliched. Maybe it’s the beginning of another cycle,” says Dravid.

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