Three days after India won the maiden Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa on Monday, the euphoria generated all over the Indian continent has yet to subside.

The Indian team received a tumultuous reception here in Mumbai after it arrived at the city’s Santa Cruz airport and on its journey from Santa to Wankhede Stadium in South Mumbai. In a way, it was reminiscent of the similar reception Ajit Wadekar’s team got after India won its first ever Test series against England in England in 1971.

Against this backdrop, it’s perhaps not surprising that the arrival in India this week of the three times world champions of one day cricket, Australia, here to play a seven game ODI series, has gone completely unnoticed.

The success of inaugural Twenty20 World Cup has been quite phenomenal and it has completely changed the complexion of the limited overs version of the game. This format altogether requires different kinds of skills, than that needed in the traditional 50 over ODI games.

Both India and Pakistan were eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the ODI World Cup held in the Caribbean six months ago but in this new format both teams, initially written off by their own countrymen, reached the final.

On the other hand, the finalists of the 50 overs World Cup, Australia and Sri Lanka, had only moderate success in the Twenty20 WC.

As the newly crowned world champions take on the Aussies on their own soil, the cynics in India are wondering whether the Indian team will be able to translate its latest success in South Africa against the visitors in the seven match ODI series?

There are number of important factors at play here. Leaving aside the fact that India and Australia are playing the 50 over game this time, the composition of the Indian team will be different, with the return of star batsman Sachin Tendulkar and Sorav Ganguly.

Both Tendulkar and Ganguly have played over 300 ODI games. These two veterans will be playing under the leadership of new captain MS Dhoni for the first time, who has only 84 ODI games to his credit and a somewhat carefree attitude (“Let’s enjoy the game, no matter if we lose”) which has caused his critics to raise their eyebrows.

Moreover, playing in front of a home crowd with heightened expectations because the success in South Africa last week can create an added pressure on the Indian team. After India was bundled out of the the World Cup earlier this year in the Caribbean, the effigies of its heroes were burnt all over the country and Dhoni’s house, then under construction, was also attacked.

Sometimes, it is easier to win a big title in pressure situations than to face a bunch of competitive cricketers in a two nation series. Does any one remember that after winning the World Cup in 1983 against West Indies at Lords’, the Indian team was completely routed by Clive Lloyd and his men on
its own soil, in both the Test and ODI series?