Inevitably, his changes worked, and that can only sometimes be luck. India now has a group of interchangeable players and in Australia the individual slowly vanished, beautifully vanquished by the team. That credit can go to Dhoni.

Many years ago, at college, we studied theories of achievement motivation and its link to the economic progress of society. Young men and women all over India are dreaming of achievement, the relative prosperity is throwing opportunity their way and, especially in the smaller towns, they are hungry. India’s success on the cricket ground is merely a reflection of the times we live in. But it is also proof that if we offer opportunity to an increasingly confident generation, success is a predictable and pleasant result.

The writer is a cricket commentator express@expressindia.com