When they stepped on the South African shores in December, the Indians carried the swag of a dominant world leader out to conquer another peak. All odds were totally in their favour; team combination, player skills, a blazing trail, and a weak opposition grappling with a phase of transition. The Final Frontier was all for the taking but the Indian cricket team found itself in a rut of their own making. The double series loss in South Africa has proved one thing, basking in past glory stunts growth. This is the precise assessment of India’s woeful tour to the Rainbow Nation. It now calls for a fresh thinking – about people, strategies and programmes. The Indian team desperately needs a new template. Analysis of the poor performance against a young and inexperienced South African team throws up many possible reasons for the reversal. The biggest remains the off-field disturbance caused by absolutely messy handling of the critical issue of captaincy. It left a big mental impact on the entire group and handed over a massive advantage to the opposition. Despite the fine victory in the first Test match to break a long-standing hoodoo, the Indians became victims of their own success and were brought to ground in the remaining games. The Test series was lost resulting in another setback in the form of Virat Kohli's resignation from captaincy. India had to deal with the spillover in the One-Day series, too, where they were outclassed by the new crop of Protean cricketers. The losses have presented an opportunity to the think-tank to take another look at the formation in both forms of the game. If India were benevolent towards the old guard in the Test series by handing them another long rope, they were totally rigid in their white-ball strategy. They were rightly spanked by the enterprising South Africans who were bold and confident in each of their plans. Confidence was the biggest difference on the entire tour. One team drew it from their last of reserves while the other team lost it in the din of confusion and suspicion. India now definitely need a set of fresh ideas, especially from the legendary Rahul Dravid. Being the captain in an era of big change in Indian cricket, Dravid knows what it takes to shake up a rigid system. He had done it under then coach Greg Chappell. This time only the method needs to be much kinder than what Chappell employed to rattle the entire ecosystem. The Test team will definitely see infusion of fresh talent, and given the talent at hand, India would not find it difficult to reclaim the lost ground. It is the shorter format where India must effect radical changes. A new template is necessary if India are thinking of changing their white-ball fortunes. For too long, the Men in Blue have followed an oft-beaten path. It is time to change the mental programming. It can come only through courageous steps including putting even the proven performers on notice. It is time to dismantle reputations and hit a severe grind with new ideas.