It’s a deadly combination. Gautam Gambhir never smiles. Surya Kumar Yadav is always smiling. Mr Smile and Mr No-Smile together create a kind of deception and depth in their cricket strategy that opponents fail to counter, leaving them to bluster in the field. After a very, very long time and for the first time in Indian history, a team that was rated as the favourite to win the c won the World Cup. And this superlative achievement was achieved without their superstars—Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. I rate this victory greater than 1983, when Kapil’s devils massacred the invincible West Indies in the final against all odds. Playing on its own ground, playing without superstars, and playing with the supernatural pressures of the hopes of 140 crore Indians with the added pressure of being the favourite demanded superhuman efforts, and this team did it with lesser mortals and regular cricketers with divine ease.

And this was done when the team was led by Gautam Gambhir and Surya K Yadav, both of whom suffered in their careers from the scourge of super stardom among their teammates. Gautam was a member of a team that included all-time great batsmen, such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman, who could walk into any great team. Gautam was a fighter and was a good batsman, but he was never rated at par with the greats of his team. He was gritty and survived in that team. Surya is a late bloomer. He got his opportunity at the ripe age of 30 and, despite being........

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