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Indian Test Batting Middle Order Replacement Race...
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THE RACE BEGINS
Sourav Ganguly’s exit has created a vacancy in the Indian middle order. The next Test might still be a few weeks away, but the fight has already begun among the many contenders. Yuvraj Singh has made a strong statement in the first One-dayer itself. TOI looks at the looming battle
K Shriniwas Rao I TNN
Let us assume that it will be a waste of time for India to wait for another afternoon at Lord’s, when a batsman brushing aside rumours of his being a political selection, will thump a glorious hundred. We’ll also take into account that perhaps no cricketer will manage to rile the Aussies and English in such a manner that they’ll end up dedicating chapters on him. Let us even say this: maybe there won’t be another time ever when a captain, the most successful one at that, will some day get sacked, and will return to make the comeback of a lifetime. All of this was a script meant for Sourav Ganguly and let’s not bother finding who wrote it.
Instead, we’ll focus on the present. Now that Ganguly’s gone and the batting order vacant with a spot so luminously held, it is time for a replacement.
And, as mentioned above, as filling Ganguly’s shoes, per se, wouldn’t be possible, let’s just take a look at the fiercely competing younger lot and try and find a few names who can take guard.
Consider the One-day line-up first. Ganguly at the top of the order, after he first opened in 1996, became a force to reckon with. At an average of 73.59, 19 of his 22 centuries and 58 of his 72 half-centuries came as No. 1 or 2 — a total of 9,146 runs from 236 innings. India may now have Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag manning those positions, and with Sachin Tendulkar around, there could be little to worry. But as much as we ought not to worry, it’s pretty much exciting to look around.
Virat Kohli, the Delhi opener and India’s Under-19 captain, comes to mind and so does Tanmay Shrivastav, who opens for Uttar Pradesh. There’s Tamil Nadu opener M Vijay too, whose recent exploits including a double in the Ranji opener, saw him win the Test cap. Among other names, Mumbai’s Ajinkya Rahane and Hyderabad’s Ravi Teja too stand out.
“Let’s not compare somebody starting now with Ganguly. It will be unfair to the youngster and unfair to Ganguly. He’s one of India’s all-time greats,’’ says former batsman and selector Gundappa Viswanath, who picked the left-hander again in 1996 when he was 24 years old.
Fine, it’s blasphemous to compare Ganguly. But it is fair enough if we’re looking at the batting order to settle, considering that in the Test scheme of things, a replacement is being sought too. Among the many names that come to mind immediately, a couple of them have already won their India caps and are doing fine — Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina easily being the front-runners.
When Raina batted the way he did in the Asia Cup recently held at Karachi’s National Stadium, it was Zaheer Abbas who urgently took note of his style and temperament. The hundred against Hong Kong may have been swept aside as an innings against an opposition of particularly weak quality but Abbas remembers it for particular reasons.
“The confidence with which he stepped out of the crease and lofted the ball over longon and mid-wicket reminded me of Ganguly in full-flow. The opposition might have been weak but still, it was a One-day International. In fact, that innings helped
him gain a lot moreconfidence for
the rest of the series,’’ says Abbas. Raina ended as the second highest scorer of the
tournament after
Sanath Jayasuriya.
Raina’s showing in Pakistan came post an impressive Ranji season, when after being dropped from India’s One-day squad, the 22-year-old managed to finish as the fifthhighest run-getter at an average of 49. “When he’s in form, he gives a lot of confidence to the batting order,’’ says his Uttar Pradesh skipper Mohammad Kaif.
Right behind Raina, maybe richer in style quotient, is Mumbai youngster Sharma. The less said the better about this right-hander who, from Vengsarkar to Srikkanth and all those who’ve been in that chief selector’s chair, has drawn constant praise. “He’s in a different league,’’ says Kiran More, the man first responsible for dropping Ganguly.
Lastly, there’s Cheteshwar Pujara, the 20-year-old, who is threatening to make his way in with three triple-hundreds in a span of 24 days. Says Srikkanth, “Pujara’s shown his ability to stay at the wicket for long and that’s the most important ingredient to a Test prospect.’’ More, who has seen the young boy at various stages of his budding career, feels it’s the right time to give him a go.
These names stand tall for a Test opportunity too, perhaps in the near future too. But before them there are the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Subramanium Badrinath who have been in the queue for a longer time. Ganguly’s Test figures (he played 100 matches, captained in 49, won 21) are mammoth, even if you don’t look at his 7,712 runs. So it’s important to remind ourselves again that they’ll never beeasy shoes to fill. However, to simply underline what we’ve said, it’s tough to ignore that there’s talent in abundance too.
YUVRAJ SINGH
Off the radar for the past six months, Friday’s blast in Rajkot that pulverised England no end, brought back to mind the kind of talent he possesses. Yuvraj lost his ODI vice-captaincy to Virender Sehwag recently and is still hungry for a Test berth. Just a little more consistency in his contributions could settle it all for him. THE CONTENDERS
By the look of it, there are as many as eight batsmen who can fill into Sourav Ganguly’s big shoes in the middle-order. All of them are in great form, and possess oustanding talent. The ‘battle for a berth’ has just begun...
M VIJAY
The Tamil Nadu opener impressed one and all with his fine performances in the Challengers,
where he scored 164
runs in three games,
at an average of
54.66. He followed
that up with a double hundred against Maharashtra in Nashik that led to his Test debut in Nagpur. With Virender Sehwag, he gave solid starts in both the innings, scoring 33 and 41. What has impressed the experts is his attitude. His fielding too is very good.
SURESH RAINA
The talented Uttar Pradesh lefthander was a favourite of former India coach Greg Chappell. His
strong performances
against England in
the 5-1 ODI series
triumph at home in
2006 even made the English media compare him with Aussie ODI great Michael Bevan. His terrific fielding adds to his utility. A knee injury and lack of form then sent him into oblivion, before the IPL, where he scored 421 runs at a strike-rate of 142.71 for Chennai, got him back into the team.
VIRAT KOHLI
Was surprisingly picked up by then chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar for the ODIs in Sri Lanka, and the Delhi
lad did nothing to
ridicule that decision,
opening the innings
in place of Virender
Sehwag and scoring 159 runs in five games as India won the series 3-2. A 197 in the Nissar Trophy and 105 in the tour game against the Aussies means he’s in great touch. Add to it the other feather in his cap — he captained the side that won the Under-19 World Cup earlier this year.
S BADRINATH
Thanks to the new selection committee, the Tamil Nadu batsman, who was being ignored as
consistently as he
was scoring, finally
found himself in the
Test squad. By sheer
logic, he should be the first to fill Ganguly’s berth, but such is the competition that Badrinath would have to again come up with big scores to push his case. In the last three Ranji seasons, he’s been one of the most consistent scorers.
CHETESHWAR PUJARA
The Saurashtra batsman has turned into somewhat of a run machine this year, having rustled up three triple-hundreds within a span of a month. Two of them came in the Col CK Nayudu Trophy for his state Under-22 team (308 against Mumbai and 386 against Maharashtra), and the last one (302 not out) came against Orissa in Ranji Trophy. Was highest run-getter of the 2007-08 Ranji season, with 807 runs from eight matches.
ROBIN UTHAPPA
Rose to stardom after the T20 World Cup, but Uthappa has managed to do little since. Mahendra Singh
Dhoni persisted with
him for a long while,
till it became evident
that Uthappa had lost
his touch and gained too much weight. This season, it seems Uthappa is looking for redemption. He was the Man of the Tournament in Challengers (216 runs at an average of 72 in three games), and slammed 131 in the first Ranji game this season.
ROHIT SHARMA
Rose to stardom at the Under-19 level, three years ago, and has steadily progressed ever since.
During the tri-series in
Australia earlier this
year, Sharma played
many crucial knocks
and his stock further rose with the stint at Deccan Chargers in IPL. Though his team flopped big time, Sharma’s knocks stood out. Began with a ton in the Ranji this season. Considering his talent and hearing what selectors usually say, he’s definitely India’s next big bet.