The senior players in the Indian team are reaching the fag end of their careers. Be it, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin or even Ravindra Jadeja, all these players are in their late 30s and within the next few years, they are likely to retire from international cricket. Transition is inevitable in India's Test team if it already hasn't begun. Team India has already moved on from Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane and the exit of the aforementioned players will certainly push the batting unit into transition. Has India found replacements for these players? Are these players ready to play top-flight cricket at home and away? Who will be part of the much-famed middle order that has bailed the team out of trouble in the 21st century? Who will be India's next saviour with the bat? We will discuss all this and a lot more in our India TV Sunday special story.
India's star-studded middle-order in 21st century
Over the years, India have been blessed to have found the batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman in their middle order. The trio was arguably the best among the lot dominating the bowlers across the world in all conditions. Tendulkar was synonymous with India's performance and it was imperative then that he did well for the team to win. As for Dravid and Laxman, they were the saviours of the team more often than not bailing the team out of trouble. Their antics in Kolkata in 2001 with a 376-run partnership after Australia had enforced the follow-on on India is still fresh in the minds of the fans. Laxman had smashed 281 runs then while Dravid had plundered 180 runs to turn the tables on the then champion Australian team.
Not only at home but the trio of Dravid, Sachin and Laxman did wonders for India away as well. Sachin notching up one of his best double centuries (scoring 241) without hitting his trademark cover drive in Sydney will remain part of cricketing folklore forever. The duo of Laxman and Dravid did Kolkata-like wonders in Adelaide as well in 2003 against Australia adding 303 runs together for the fifth wicket with the latter also playing a match-winning knock in the second innings to help India register a historic win. In that Test only, Dravid managed to amass 305 runs alone, a rarity even now especially away from home.
As the famed trio entered the fag end of its cricketing journey, India had the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli ready to take over. Pujara became Wall 2.0 as he batted just like Dravid and weathered the storm when needed while Kohli showed Tendulkar-like elegance while Rahane seemed to be taking over from Laxman with his ability to play with the tail and performed whenever India were in trouble. The transition from the 2000s to the 2010s decade was very smooth but the same cannot be said about the 2020s decade.
But when it comes to the current team, the transition doesn't seem to be smooth as of now with the likes of Shubman Gill, and KL Rahul not settled at their respective positions. Gill moved down to number three as India dropped Pujara but he hasn't been able to replicate the latter's heroics yet. KL Rahul is not consistent yet in the Test team despite playing more than 50 matches in the format for India. As for the number four position, Virat Kohli is still playing but there is no player in sight who can replace him in the long term. Rajat Patidar replaced him during the England Test series when he was unavailable but he could only score 63 runs in six innings.
Who will replace Kohli? Will Gill and Rahul step up going forward? Only time will tell...
Is anyone ready to replace Rohit Sharma?
Rohit Sharma sealed his position in the Test team as an opener in 2019 and since then has scored a lot of runs. But he is already 37 and unlikely to play for more than two years. Who will replace him then? Shubman Gill and KL Rahul have played as openers before but they have moved down to the middle-order while Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhimanyu Easwaran are the only other two contenders for the position. Gaikwad has played 31 first-class matches in his career so far and averages around 43 while he hasn't been able to notch up big scores in the ongoing Duleep Trophy either.
Easwaran is a first-class veteran having played 96 matches and plundered 7180 runs but for some reason, he has never made it to the senior team. Easwaran has smashed 24 centuries and 29 fifties in red-ball cricket and despite having some excellent numbers, the UP-born cricketer has not been picked by the selectors.
Will he get picked once Rohit Sharma retires? Will he be in the same kind of form at the age of 31? Well, only time will tell...
Are the players in the pipeline good enough?
The format of the Duleep Trophy was changed this season so that a pool of players could be created. The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Rajat Patidar, Ishan Kishan, and Sarfaraz Khan are playing in the tournament. But has it served the purpose? If the numbers so far in the tournament are considered, the returns are extremely disappointing as none of them have been consistent. Iyer has bagged two ducks and registered a single-digit score in six innings while Ishan Kishan has returned with scores of 5 and 1 after scoring 111 runs. Rajat Patidar too hasn't clicked as expected and the same was the case with Sarfaraz in the two matches he played in the Duleep Trophy.
When it comes to red-ball cricket, it is not about how quickly the batters are scoring. It is always about how big they are scoring. Among the current lot who are being looked at as the future, nobody is showing that spark and it is a huge matter of concern for Indian cricket.
Who will replace Ashwin and Jadeja - The Batsmen?
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are not only India's prime wicket-takers but they have also bailed India out of trouble a lot of times with the bat. Their recent effort against Bangladesh in Chennai to save India from 144/6 to 376 with Ashwin scoring a century and Jadeja smashing 86 runs is a testament to how well the duo has played over the years. But both of them are on the verge of stepping down in the next few years and in that case, the question is - Who will replace them? At least in this case, India have two players who could be relied upon - Axar Patel and Washington Sundar.
Axar is clearly ready to replace Jadeja in the long run having scored 646 runs in 22 innings at an average of almost 36. His all-round skills have benefited India in white-ball formats already and it is only a matter of time before the southpaw does his job in Tests. As for Ashwin's replacement, Washington Sundar seems to be ready but the lanky cricketer has been injury-prone and for the same reason, he hasn't been able to establish his position in the team.
Among all the aforementioned players, who will be India's next saviour? Will India be able to come out of the batting crisis? Well, again, only time will tell...
