SO, finally the IPL is over. Over the last month or so, I have been wondering where the next generation of Indian batsmen are going to come from. I alluded to this in an earlier column where I expressed happiness over the fact that the bowling larder wasn’t bare. With Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman getting long in the tooth, it is time for Indian cricket’s policy makers to decide on blooding some of the talent that IPL 2.0 has thrown up. More so, because India has a long domestic international calendar this winter. While the Aussies come for seven one day internationals, both Sri Lanka and South Africa will visit India for a full complement of three Tests and five one dayers each.
Till the fag end of the tournament this year, one didn’t find anything exciting in the batting department. And I thought, my God, who is going to grab the baton in the great Indian cricketing race. But along came Manish Pandey representing Bangalore’s Royal Challengers. Of course there was Rohit Sharma, calm and composed in the face of greatest adversity for the Deccan Chargers, but he is already an international and an Indian Test prospect. The key to his batting is that he has time at hand to execute his shots and more importantly uses the depth of the crease for shot making. Last year at the T20 World Cup, he burst on the scene and showed improved promise on the tour of Australia where he contributed in the tri series victory.
This season’s IPL showed him for what he is – a remarkably cool demeanor matched by naked aggression with the bat. Is that an anachronism? Maybe, but that is Sharma for you. Lazy elegance personified and exemplified by sweet timing. To replace the holy trinity of Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh will take a lot of doing. The next generation of Indian batters has to climb a long rope ladder to the zenith. But on the basis of evidence displayed during the IPL and earlier, I am convinced that Sharma has the capability, capacity and hunger for the big stage. Does he look a trifle laidback and lackadaisical some times. Perhaps so, but once he plays regularly on the big stage, he will start looking the part. But there were two other talents unearthed by IPL 2.0. Virat Kohli who has already played for India and looked the part when he was one of the few to decipher Ajantha Mendis in Sri Lanka is an exciting talent who needs to be groomed for the future.
Kohli is a brilliant fieldsman to boot and some of his knocks during the second season have stamped him out as a class act. Captain of the India under 19 which lifted the World Cup, Kohli has shown aptitude and application. It is clear that he is a big game hunter. Somebody who plays in the V and extremely conventional and classical in his shot making, two of his sixes in one of the crucial games for the Royal Challengers left no doubt in my mind that his time too has come. Then there is Manish Pandey who opened the batting for the Challengers in the last lap of the tournament. Two strokes through the covers off Gony where he transferred his body weight behind the ball showed that his balance at the crease is near perfect. Sunny Gavaskar will always tell you that the centre of gravity is crucial for a batsman. More than that the ability to use the width and depth of the crease is equally critical for a good batsman.
All three – Kohli, Sharma and Pandey – have all the requisites of good batsmen. To become great batsmen, you need to be able to monetize every opportunity that you get and score runs by the tons. I am convinced that sooner than later three to four slots will open up in India’s batting line up. If Gambhir and Sehwag will continue to provide the edifice, then numbers three to six will be available shortly. In any case, in one day cricket, these positions are up for grabs. Sachin Tendulkar needs to be rested. You cannot make him go through the rigors of the abbreviated version anymore. He is a rare commodity and needs to be preserved. Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman are already out of the one day side. That leaves Yuvraj Singh who I guess will be a permanent fixture in your shorter version sides, but not necessarily in the Test team. He has been given innumerable opportunities in Test and his conversion rate is quite poor.
Actually there are one or two others who can be considered for the big stage – S Badrinath, Suresh Raina and M Vijay. Again an excellent fielder, Badrinath has all the strokes. Raina has been in the form of his life lately and was able to match Mathew Hayden stroke for stroke in the IPL. However, he is suspect against the short ball and will have to work on this failing if he wants to make the cut in the Indian Test side. Vijay played for India against the Aussies when Gambhir was serving a ban. He showed great presence of mind while fielding and impressed with his tall upright stance and strokes in the front of the wicket. Pandey and Kohli are from the same India under 19 side and interestingly they played for the same franchise in the IPL – Bangalore. Most of these youngsters have already tasted the biggest stage in some form or the other barring Pandey. What the BCCI now needs to do is to handle these boys with care. On a rotational basis, some of them need to be given opportunities in the shorter versions. Since India has a long and arduous home campaign this year, maybe some of these batsmen can accompany the team. The BCCI is cash rich and allowing these boys to travel with the likes of Laxman, Dravid and Tendulkar will be an enriching experience.
Imagine talking to the holy trinity, listening to them and asking questions? This way some of these youngsters will be broken into the Indian side. Sometimes I wonder whether MS Dhoni is planning to chuck up the gloves and play only as a batsman. He certainly has the wherewithal and experience to do that and places in the Indian batting line up will be freed by the end of this winter season. Dhoni presently bats at 7 and this way he could go up higher and play as a batter. For my sense is that Dravid and Laxman will go sometime during the next home season, Tendulkar like Old Man River will go on for one more season probably? His dream of bringing the 2011 World Cup may ensure that he carries on playing.
But with positions three, four, five open in the one day squad, all the young guns will be hoping to make the cut quickly. Right now Raina is a shoo in for three, followed by Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma. Then there is Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan in the one day and T 20 squads. But India’s number six spot in the Test squad is wide open because Yuvraj has been given too many chances and not really delivered. If Dhoni drops the gloves and turns batter, then Dinesh Karthik who played brilliantly in the IPL gets a look in as the keeper. Lots of permutations and combinations.
Bottom line is that India needs good, solid young guns for the long haul in Test cricket. Guys who can play for a decade and more, be consistent and run hungry. In the time honoured tradition of Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Vishwanath, Dilip Vengsarkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Saurav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar.
