When we talk about the golden era of a team, what exactly it defines, the legacy of a team or the players who have been featured for more than a decade in the team. The parameter to define golden era is definitely the performance of a team under any circumstances over the specific period of time in their history. Before the white ball cricket, there was only red-ball cricket in which all teams had played against each other, so picking the team from history won't exactly define the parameter of the golden era of a team.
Men in blue has a long history of producing players like Sunil Gavaskar, BS Chandrasekhar and Erappali Prasanna who have represented the country at the highest level and established the image of team India on the world map. But it was in the 90s era when team India has performed like the most complete side ever in their history. From top order to middle order batsman to the quality all-rounders and some of the great strike bowlers like Javagal Srinath and greatest spinners like Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh completes this side. The top order was owned by Virender Sehwag single handedly across the formats with his surreal hand-eye coordination strength which was first time seen in the Indian batting line-up.
Watch Video: From the Vault: Vintage Virender in full flow
The dashing opener was well supported by another delhi batsman Gautam Gambhir for the long period of time where these two had provided many great starts to team which had led foundation for the many victories. Apart from these players Sachin Tendulkar has also opened the innings with Sehwag but it was surely the Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir pair which had brought the sense of assurance to the team and fans about the solid start at the top of the order.
The period of 1997-2011 was definitely the golden period in the Indian cricket history when leader like Sourav Ganguly took the charge to Completely changed the body language of Indian cricket team. Sourav Ganguly was the captain way ahead of its time and without a doubt will be best captain India have produced may others have more victories under his belt. But the kind of enthusiasm he had in his young days will remain unparalleled. The captain like Sourav Ganguly has brought the habit of winning games at overseas along with home conditions. The famous victory of NatWest Final 2002 at lord’s was the example of that and best thing ever happened in Indian cricket history.
Also Read | Golden Era of Pakistan Cricket Team in the 1990s
The captain who has policy to include the young and raw talent in the team work wonders for the team. Players like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra who all went onto to have great career while playing for India. The famous 2001 test series which has completely changed the dynamics of Indian cricket history came under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly. The world cup 2003 campaign where team India has reached the finals where they lost to Australia a better team. Even in 2003-04 Australia tour of India was the statement from the captain like Sourav Ganguly we are home ground favourite we can competitive cricket anywhere in the world. Later the captain like MS Dhoni took the charge and took team India to great heights. But the foundation which was set by Sourav Ganguly from the base when players and rumours were their for match fixing from where Ganguly build the team will be unmatched from many captains in Indian cricket history.
Golden era of Indian cricket Team :
Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Javagal Srinath.
