It’s been two weeks since India finished their 2008 Test campaign, and there’ve been scores of articles about how Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team are the new world leaders. From some prominent former English cricketers to some famous writers from our neck of the woods, the opinion has resonated loudly in the two countries, as it did in Australia a couple of months ago when the world champions had been dominated by India’s evergreens and greenhorns alike.

But while India have been creating all the ripples at home in the latter half of the year, it was South Africa who were the quiet, clinical, unstoppable force of world cricket this past year.

Here’s what the numbers say: 15 Tests, 11 wins (they matched the record set by West Indies in 1984 and England in 2004); year’s highest scorer (Smith, 1656 — third highest aggregate of all time); and the year’s highest wicket-taker (Dale Steyn, 74).

But it’s when you look beyond the figures, at how some of the main characters in the South African team have evolved in the last 12 months, that the shift in the on-field power equation from Australia towards them becomes more apparent.

India had first seen Steyn in late 2006, when the fast bowler, only 23 and already 15 Tests old, made an appearance in overcast Johannesburg. Little is remembered of him from that match, which will be known forever for S Sreesanth’s perfect seam position and Sourav Ganguly’s gritty sheet-anchor batting in his comeback Test.

With stories of his lightning pace the focus of attention going into the match, Steyn had fallen prey to his own exuberance and forgotten that where you bowl, and how you mix it up, is more important at the highest level than how quick you are.

After no wicket and an injury from 10 overs, Steyn had to be left out for the next Test in Durban, but he’s come back stronger than ever this past year, complementing his energy with the accuracy that top-of-the-line opening bowlers are known for.

But it’s in Smith’s leadership that the true evolution of South Africa’s mindset has been most clearly evident. Once described as a petulant schoolboy with a loose tongue, Smith was seen as a young maverick leading a team of “chokers” he had no hope of inspiring. He scored lots of runs, but critics, and opponents, always managed to get a rise out of him because he was so easy to provoke.

This time, in Australia, there’ve been no outbursts, no silly remarks. His team mates are now willing to give an arm and a leg for him, and as South Africa have grown in confidence over the year, Smith seems to have metamorphosed into a calm, measured skipper who expresses himself on the field rather than in pre- and post-match press conferences.

There were some uncanny similarities between India and South Africa last year. A captain in control, an opener in top form, a set of dangerous quick bowlers, but whatever India did in 2008, the Proteas did a little better — India beat Australia easily, South Africa defeated them in their own backyard; India chased a mammoth 387, the Proteas chased an even more daunting 414.

And while India fell into a hole in Sri Lanka, failing to read Ajantha Mendis until it was too late, no one could trouble South Africa. West Indies, India, England, Bangladesh and Australia were all on the receiving end as Smith went from country to country, spreading the word that South African cricket was at its highest point since the 1991 comeback.