Now change the Test team

The Twenty20 World Cup, the historic tri-series victory Down Under, and now the taming of Mendis: What else do Dhoni's young men have to do to show they're ready to take over from the famous five and start winning Test series too for India?

Beating the two One-Day World Cup finalists, Australia and Sri Lanka, in their own backyards in full-fledged series should be good enough to establish their credentials to play any form of cricket.

But even more impressive than that has been the speed with which the One-Day side adapted to the freak spin of the new Lankan sensation, Ajantha Mendis, coming as it did right after the more experienced Indian Test side had no clue what to do even after three five-day games.

And make no mistake - if the menace of Mendis had continued to hang over the Indian team like Damocle's sword, Sri Lanka would have walked away with the one-day series too, regardless of losing the tosses.

Except for Yuvraj Singh, whose continuing difficulties against spin put a question mark over his place in the side, none of the top order one-day batsmen looked like they were sitting ducks to the carom bowler, and even launched a counter-attack against him in the third and fourth ODIs, sending him on a leather hunt for the first time in his career. On the other hand, none of the Test batsmen, with the outstanding exception of Sehwag, could even think of attacking Mendis.

So it has to be said that whatever they may have done in the past 20 years, the famous five of Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid, Lakshman and Kumble are now holding up India's natural progression up the Test standings given the emerging talent in both batting and bowling. Think of it this way: Who would Ricky Ponting rather play against when his side tours India later this year - Anil Kumble's ageing lot, or MS Dhoni's young brigade?

It isn't just a question of age, either. The frequency with which the famous five get injured, the clumsiness in their fielding, the catches they've begun to let slip, and the tardiness in their running are all indicators of their rapidly deteriorating fitness levels.

Did this affect their batting, and their approach to Mendis? Most certainly. But there is also a matter of attitude. Dhoni's young players seem to take the field with a clear intent of beating the hell out of the opposition, even if they fail occasionally.

The ageing players, on the other hand, seem preoccupied with things like protecting their reputation, prolonging their careers, or reaching personal milestones. It's such an irony that after all they have achieved, it is fear of failure that seems to be at the top of their minds at this stage of their careers, when they are more concerned with how they will be remembered than what they can do from here on.

This becomes even more evident when Dhoni's young men take the field, because the contrast is so stark, not just in the way they play the game but also in their enjoyment of it.

For me, the defining moment of the India-Lanka series was Suresh Raina's towering six over long on in the first over from Ajantha Mendis in the third ODI. It wasn't a shot in desperation. That is, it wasn't a whistling-in-the-dark, walking-down-the-track, hoping-for-the-best sort of thing. It wasn't bravado. Just sheer confidence, good judgement of line, length and  spin, and a clear-headed, full-flowing, take-no-prisoners execution.

Okay, I've laid on quite a lot on that one shot, you might say. But it really was the first time that any Indian batsman had dispatched Mendis in so imperious a manner, with the exception of Sehwag during that majestic double century at Galle to win the second Test almost single-handed.

For the most part of three whole Test matches, days on end, over after over, we saw iconic players like Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Lakshman scratch and paw about in amateur fashion against the rookie Lankan spinner. How completely they belied the high hopes of their captain, Anil Kumble, who had asserted before the Test series that his experienced batting line-up would handle Mendis far better than the Dhoni-led one-day team had done in the Asia Cup final in Pakistan just before the Lankan tour.

Instead, it was the young brigade that removed the aura around Mendis, and it took them just three one-day games to do that. He remains a dangerous bowler, but no longer mesmerizes our batsmen like he did in the Tests, and the first couple of ODIs.

That's why that Raina shot was so special. It was as though a mental switch had been flicked. Mendis suddenly looked like any other good bowler, and you didn't expect him to take a wicket with every ball. I mean, who would've wagered at the start of the series, after the havoc he wreaked in the Tests, that Mendis would go at a run a ball as he did in the decisive fourth ODI?

c_sumit@dnaindia.net