SUDDENLY the thrill was back. Here was Zaheer Khan, a 22-year-old engineering drop-out from Baroda, snorting down the track, looking the adversary in the eye, yorking two Kenyan batsmen on the trot, and pumping his wrist in the air in his international debut. Here was Yuvraj Singh, a 19-year-old arts student from Chandigarh, hammering his maiden international half-century off 47 balls with the chutzpah of a hardened veteran. This was en route a scorching 84 off 80 balls. Here was an inspired veteran Venkatesh Prasad scooping South Africa's Roger Telemachus out of thin air with an amazing spot-jump at deep square leg. And most importantly, here was Saurav Ganguly, emerging as a gritty and outspoken helmsman, working the team, admonishing and motivating the youngsters and leading from the front with two centuries in four matches.
In the heart of African safari (a Swahili word which literally means journey) country, Indian cricket seemed to have turned a new page last fortnight. At the quaint 12,000-capacity Nairobi Gymkhana ground, the venue for the eleven-nation icc...
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