Who will replace Rahul, Sachin, Laxman and Ganguly after their retirement? This is the foremost question in the mind of every Indian cricket fan. Most probably they would retire around same period. Let us see the future Indian batting prospects.
Badrinath: He has scored heavily in the domestic cricket consistently. He has done well against ‘A’ teams of Australia and South Africa. He is a hard-working cricketer. What he need immediately is the Indian cap. He is unlucky, not to get the Indian cap yet.
Gambhir: He too has scored consistently well at the first-class level. He is beginning to show consistency at the international level. Sehwag has established himself as numero uno Indian opener and Jaffer is very solid at the top. It will be very difficult for Gambhir to dislodge them in Test Cricket. With Jaffer confined to Test cricket and Sehwag’s history at the top in one-day cricket being average he is sure to take one opening slot.
Uthappa: He is an attacking player. He has got good composure. He needs to be more consistent and make better-shot selection.
Raina: He was being touted as successor of Sachin Tendulkar by English media when he performed well against England when they visited India lastly. He is the best Indian fielder. He has got talent. It remains to be seen how big he becomes.
Pujara: His record has been impressive in the two seasons he played at the first-class level. He made some important knocks for his Ranji team, Services.
Tiwary: He is a stroke-maker. He is only two seasons old. But he made such a big impact in such a short period. He had steered his state Bengal to the finals of the Ranji Trophy last year.
Rohit Sharma: He has got good technique. He is perfect for No.3 position. He can be aggressive and also can graft. He is a mixture of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. His short first class record suggests that he was inconsistent. He needs to be more consistent.
Yuvraj: He is currently the best Indian batsman in one-day internationals and Twenty20. He has the ability. But somehow he is not able to make a big impact in Test cricket. He is found wanting against moving ball and quality spinners. Everyone has weakness. He can emulate Sehwag, who does not have a great technique but still succeeded in Test cricket in a big way. When he is not doing duty for the Indian cricket he should be playing first-class cricket, not warming the bench without any action.
Others: Dhoni, Karthik and Patel are the leading wicket keepers at the moment and all are capable bat. Karthik has better wicket keeping abilities and Dhoni is improving in this aspect each passing day. Dhoni is by far the best wicket keeper batsmen in ODI. Karthik has better technique and temperament for Test cricket and he is my first choice in that version. Though one should not forget Dhoni’s few crucial match saving knocks in Tests. But playing Karthik as specialist batsmen in ODIs ahead of other promising batsmen is a stupid act.
In my opinion Sehwag and Jaffer are the best opening pair for India in Tests at this moment. I feel Sehwag should bat at No.6 in one-dayers and Dhoni should open. My reasoning is that Dhoni is capable of producing big innings in one-dayers (148 & 183 at No.3 and 96 opening). A team needs players scoring hundreds at the very top of the line-up. Fine example is Sachin and Ganguly. While Sehwag feature has been player producing short and quick knocks in one-dayers.
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