An Indian triumph on home soil is a truism that is often set in stone but Friday night's exploits at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here has an added sheen for the ‘Men in Blue'. India has only won the first One-Day International of the five-match series against England, but the context of past losses meant that M.S. Dhoni had extra reasons to be relieved after R. Ashwin castled Jade Dernbach to signal a 126-run victory. India had finally halted its string of losses that started at North Sound in Antigua on June 13.

Including that day, India lost 10 international engagements — two ODIs in the West Indies, four Tests, one Twenty20 and three ODIs against England. However, the previous losses, especially in ODIs, never hinted at a team in decline because a complex chain of circumstances meant that India never had a full-strength squad.

The senior players' need for rest after the euphoria of the World Cup triumph and the frenzy of the Indian Premier League meant that Suresh Raina led a young crop in the West Indies. Harbhajan Singh was the lone senior player in that team. In England, a string of injuries that could keep an orthopaedic specialist busy all his life, unhinged the team and Dhoni said: “I don't think there was ever a tour on which we lost eight to nine players due to injury.”

Home advantage In the current series too, key players like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan are missing, while Harbhajan has been dropped. Yet the advantages of playing at home in front of a crowd that gradually found its voice helped the team spark a slow revival. All teams go through a cyclical purge once in four years that coincides with that time period just after the World Cup.

Being the reigning champion, India has no need to wield the axe recklessly but the vagaries of age and the vicissitudes in form will mean that the squad will keep evolving over the coming months. During the England tour in which a slew of young players were thrust into hostile terrain and asked to stand up, Dhoni kept stressing: “These are the players who are expected to do the job for us in the future.”

Men like Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ashwin and Praveen Kumar have to quickly transform from their under-study roles to micro-manage other youngsters while Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir currently mentor the larger pool. The bowling will always come under scrutiny while the team is expected to reveal its batting might in familiar conditions.

Even in England, it was not a case of abject capitulation as scores of 274/7, 187/3 (23 overs), 234/7, 280/5 and 304/6 were notched up, though the bowlers struggled with inclement weather and the resultant wet out-field and failed to augment the efforts of the batsmen.

Self-belief Dhoni has truly led from the front with a beguiling blend of icy cool demeanour and batting-violence. Raina too has been an assertive willow-wielder unlike the diffident streak he displayed in Tests against England. And, Alastair Cook's men spectacularly imploded as the pressure of the chase, a pitch with variable bounce and spinners — Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja — on the prowl led to a stifling noose.

Ahead of the match, England coach Andy Flower sat amidst his players and exhorted the team to cope well with the Indian conditions. It is a task that has proved arduous for many in the past but this England team, according to Cook, has ‘self-belief' and its talent is never in doubt. India though has made a positive beginning while more contests await it in the coming week, starting with the game at Delhi on Monday.