The secret behind India's stunning fortune reversal in the first Test against Australia was a mantra given to the besieged team by famous psychologist Sandy Gordon-"Never Take a Backward Step".
The Indian team drew inspiration from the magic phrase after consultations with Gordon at the start of this week.
India had successfully worked on the theme "Now or Never" during the World Cup early this year and recorded eight wins on a trot before making it to the final.
The Indian team has planned five themes in all for the entire duration of the Australian tour-four before the start of each Test match and one for the one-day series.
The remaining team themes have not been decided yet. Out of the four remaining, three would be decided on the eve of the following three Tests while the last one would be conjured before the one-day series which starts on January 9.
Gordon is due to join the team again for a short duration before the start of the third Boxing Day Test at Melbourne beginning on December 26.
There was a blanket ban on Indian team members on talking about the team theme.
The theme inspired the Indians to dominate three of the first four days of the Gabba Test as they got Australia out for their lowest total this year and then batted with rare tenacity to chalk up 362 for six.
Sourav Ganguly was at the centre of India's revival as he smashed 144 runs-his 11th and most significant century, which critics feel, could finally allow the Indian skipper to do justice to his abundant talent.
Ganguly has never entirely convinced his critics to handle quality fast bowling on quick surfaces but the innings today should finally put to an end to all debates on the quality of his batsmanship.
The theme could allow the Indians to emerge as the first major threat to Australians in their own den in years.
India, the only team to beat the world champions in a cricket series in the last few seasons, defeated the Aussies in a home Test series in 2001-02 and the ghost of that 2-1 loss could again come back to haunt Steve Waugh's men.
The Indians first turned to a Team Theme during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa adopting the line "Now or Never".
It was seen as the galvanising theme for them as they overcame a horrendous start to reach the final before Australians put an end to their hope with an emphatic win.
Indians have lately been under siege for their poor performance at home when they failed to beat New Zealand in the Test series and were walloped by Australia in the triangular one-day tournament.
The present tour to Australia did not start off well either when they struggled against Victoria in the tour opener and then proved no match to second grade Queensland Academy of Sports team.
Facing the heat from the media as well as from fans back home, the team management took recourse to two measures which seem to have done wonders to their performance.
First they sought the services of Gordon and then they requested the Board to appoint former Australian Test bowler Bruce Reid as bowling coach.
Both moves appear to have paid off as India has come off better than the world champions at Gabba.
