The winds of change are blowing hard and India are breezing through, to gun for glory and nip the giants in the bud.

By Rajarshi Gupta

India became the first team in cricketing history to play 700 ODI's when they beat England in rain curtailed day-night thriller in Bangalore on Sunday.

And what a year this has been for Indian cricket. A young captain at the helm, the team rattled Australia in their own cave and held aloft triumphantly the Commonwealth Bank Series. That was just the sign of things to come. MS Dhoni's boys had roughened up Ricky Ponting's men. Blood tastes sweet.

The Men in Blue romped on, stuttered but never fell. There was heartbreak after India lost to Pakistan in the final of the Kitply Cup and to Sri Lanka in the final of the STAR Cricket Asia Cup.

But revenge was on the cards, ready to be delivered where it hurt most. Dhoni led his Devils to a 3-2 ODI series against the Lankans in the Emerald Isles.

The English came down to India on the back of a sensational 4-0 drubbing of South Africa at home. Kevin Pietersen had taken on the mantle of a new age England. Hopes were running high till it they were ripped apart by a rampaging Indian side.

Four of the seven match ODI series have now been played. India have taken an unbeatable 4-0 lead and are threatening to whitewash KP's dreams.

That is confidence, that is a roar to take over the world order.

India have won 18 of the 28 ODI's they have played this year, losing only eight while two yielded no results. A winning percentage of 69.23 has warmed up a million hearts.

Three years back in the year of 2005, India played 25 ODI's and had won 15 but lost 12. Fair enough. A winning percentage of 55.55. The next year saw the team dipping to a new low, losing 15 of the 30 ODI's and winning only 13 and ending with a winning percentage of 46.42.

2007 was where the bells started to toll. 20 wins from 37 ODI's meant a winning percentage of 57.14 after losing 15 games with two others producing no results.

2008. India are soaring for the skies. Three more matches remain and if India win them, what a way it would be to round off a rather special year.

Dhoni became the first Indian to bag the ICC ODI Player of the Year while scoring over 1,000 runs for the second successive year. Gautam Gambhir with 1,119 runs from 27 matches at an average of 46.62 and a strike rate of 90.53 has been the highest run getter in ODI's this year so far.

His captain is hot on his heels though, with 1,047 runs from 28 matches at 58.16 and a strike rate of 82.31.

Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh joined an elite league of Indian batsmen to score 6,000 runs or more in ODI's. Yuvraj, of course, also added another feather to his proud cap when he blasted two successive tons against England to sit pretty with Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.

Lanky pacer Ishant Sharma has been breathing fire all year too. His sheer pace has bagged him 26 wickets from 18 matches at an average of 29.15.

India are knocking on the doors of history. The oracle of billions of fans is all set to blossom into sweet reality.

Two men, who saw those dreams more closely than a lot of others will smile, content with the blood and sweat they put in. Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble may no more be part of the new onslaught but will look back fondly to what they believed in and look ahead to the glory years.