Time to think ahead for team India

The Indian test team has hit a road block and has pretty much gone downhill over the past year or so. In spite of the high of winning the world cup in 2011, the Indian team has for sure taken a step back in test cricket. The legends Sachin, Dravid and Laxman are at the cusp of retirement and we still havent got any replacement tested at this level. The big three have been great servants for the Indian team and with more than 35000 test runs and close to 100 centuries between them they have been one of the best players in the world. Replacing them is going to be hard task for the management. Let us look at some possible candidates for the middle order.

Ajinkya Rahane:

He had a brilliant start to his career in ODI in England. He looked extremely solid and with his ability to play short ball well he is definitely a great prospect for India. Even though he is an opener, India should not keep out his talent for long. He will be an ideal number 3 for India. Since he has been an opener, handling new ball isn’t new to him and being an aggressive player by nature he can capitalize on a good start by the openers. Rahane with almost 5000 runs in first class cricket with an impressive average of 68 is surely the first one to make the list

Cheteshwar Arvind Pujara:

A young player with immense potential and with a great domestic record to boot is sure to play a great role in the Indian middle order. Pujara already played 3 tests for India and made a match winning 50 against the Aussies but looked at sea against the SA pace attack. 3 games isn’t a fair sample to test the youngster, again like Rahane Pujara has scored over 4000 first class runs with a fantastic average of 54. He will be an ideal number 4 for India. With his ability to grind as well as attack he will be an ideal batsman to follow Rahane at 3. Pujara spent almost an entire year injured and would do well to work on his fitness. The youngster has a great future ahead of him and hopefully will fulfill his potential.

Rohit Sharma:

Yet another talented middle order batsman with lazy elegance. He took few years before establishing himself in the shorter format of the game and is one of the few players with excellent technique. He has a wide range of strokes but needs to work on his temperament. He is still untested in the longer format and will hope that when he gets a chance he grabs on to it with both hands. He showed excellent composure playing under pressure in the ODI’s in 2011 and will be an ideal number 5 or 6 in the Indian middle order. Another player with excellent domestic record and has an impressive average of 63 in first class cricket.

Virat Kohli:

Virat is a great ODI player. He is one of the highest run getters in the shorter format over the last couple of years but has found the longer format a little harder to adjust. In the 6 tests he has played to date he averages just 21 with 2 fifties. He did get couple of starts but has thrown it away with some poor strokes. Virat is for sure a good prospect in all forms of the game for India and for sure like Rohit needs to work on his temperament in the longer format. With excellent technique and range of strokes he can serve the Indian middle order for a long time to come. He can fit into the order anywhere between 4, 5 and 6.

Other possible candidates:

Abhinav Mukund and Manoj Tiwary are the others who have great potential to make it big. Mukund showed excellent technique and composure in the series against West Indies but struggled in England. Even though we cannot hold that against him as the entire tour was a disaster for the Indian team and all the batsmen struggled. With Rahane getting ahead of him in the pecking order Mukund needs to wait for his chance but again with great weight of runs behind him in domestic cricket he is another player to watch out.

Manoj Tiwary is another youngster who has been knocking at the door of selection for some time now. With a good hundred against West Indies in the home series should give him some confidence. Another player with great ability will for sure be in the selector’s radar as a backup middle order batsman. He has put in hard yards at the first class level, has more than 4000 runs at an impressive average of 61.

The Indian think tank has missed a trick here. They haven’t tested too many players in the middle order except for Kohli, Pujara and Badri. After the Australian series heads are bound to roll and India will have to thrust some youngsters into the deep end. They might even consider going the safe route by bringing back Yuvraj and Raina into the squad but these youngsters deserve their chances as they have the ability to serve the Indian test team for longer time.

Article by: Giridharan Subramanian