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Where are India’s next great batsmen?

Posted on | February 15, 2010 | 5 Comments

Looking at the last Test it’s obvious India need to regroup and bat a helluva sight better or their spot as number one in the world will disappear.

That’s why it’s so important to have VVS Laxman back in the side. Without him and Rahul Dravid there’s a big hole and although there are some decent young batsmen around the newcomers haven’t the same talent, flair and technique. Dravid is a fantastic player, so technically correct and a model for any youngster to follow while Laxman is a magician with lovely touches. Sachin Tendulkar’s record speaks for itself but what happens to Indian cricket when these three go, as they must as age takes its toll.

I haven’t seen any young players who look as though they are capable of picking up the mantle. I’ve seen some young batsmen who are quite good in some departments of their game but that’s not the same. Indian cricket has been based on high quality batting and I think that the first Test against South Africa in Nagpur showed that when the new kids come in, they’re not up to it.

India’s great batsmen have been players to savour and Laxman, Dravid and Tendulkar are artists in their profession in the tradition of India’s finest like, Vishy, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sunny Gavaskar, VJ Merchant, Polly Umrigar, Vinoo Mankad and a host of others, all so talented.

But it doesn’t look to me as though there are any potential greats in the pipeline, I don’t see any icons in the making and it’s going to be a big blow to India and her millions of supporters.

The one-day game and T20 will throw up a few guys who can smash it out of the park and capture the imagination for a time, and yes, they’ll make a good living because cricket is so big in India there will be bat endorsements, TV ads and commercial opportunities. But when will there be another Sachin, a craftsman like Dravid, a magician like VVS?

Every country has a period when a number of great players come together to make an incredible team but it’s sheer luck, a roll of the dice, pure good fortune. Australia had Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, fabulous bowlers, and batsmen like the Waugh brothers, Hayden, Langer and Gilchrist. But we’ve seen that when they all go down like dominoes the next batch aren’t in that class. Look at Australia now. They’re still a good team but no better than South Africa, England or India and far from invincible like their predecessors.

Another example is the West Indian sides of the seventies and eighties; all those tremendous fast bowlers and batsmen like Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge, Sir Viv, Clive Lloyd and before them Lawrence Rowe, Alvin Kallicharran and Rohan Kanhai. But as soon as the last of them retired the team went downhill and are now a shadow of a great team and not one of the present side are in the same class.

The game goes in cycles and India have enjoyed having three rare talents but it’s coming to an end and where are the replacements? There’s a lot of average, decent players but nothing special and we are seeing the last hurrahs of a wonderful trio. They are already missing occasionally from the 50 over and T20 one-day side. No reflection on their talent or on their legacy, but it’s a simple fact that Old Father Time catches up with all of us.

The big picture is not whether India lose to South Africa but where is the next generation?

In Kolkata, VVS is at number three, a position he likes, on one of his favourite grounds and the scene of India’s biggest triumph in March 2001, following on and beating Australia. They will need a similar performance because in Dale Steyn South Africa have the best bowler in the world at the moment. The best praise I can give him is that he is the nearest thing to the great Sir Richard Hadlee as I have seen. He’s got fair pace, an off stump line in that corridor of uncertainty, swings it away and cuts it in and out. The ball he got Sachin with in Nagpur in the first innings was absolute perfection and would have done for anyone. Pitched up, just outside off stump, he drew Sachin forward but it swung late and kept going off the pitch. When you get balls like that, you’ve got a big, big problem. To take 10 wickets in a Test match takes some doing for a pace bowler in India where the pitches are slower than in South Africa or Australia and don’t do as much as in England or New Zealand. That seven for 51 in the first innings did for India and they were in trouble ever after. It was just a matter of time and patience before South Africa winkled out the Indians a second time.

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Comments

5 Responses to “Where are India’s next great batsmen?”

  1. Haroon Riaz
    February 15th, 2010 @ 1:16 pm

    Sir Boycott, I think you have a very good point and it is something for Indian cricket to think about. They are more focused on commercial events like the IPL T20, which is alright, but they need to produce players of the quality of the three great ones that you just mentioned or it would be a lot of trouble for their test side in the years to come.

    By the way, I never thought Steyn was as impressive before reading your article. But he’s been doing well recently.

    Clearly, you can hardly be impressed by the way Saha and Badrinath have looked. I think guys like Sachin and Laxman made a clear presence from the very start of their careers. Maybe Murali Vijay is a good find, bats like VVS Laxman too. But apart from that, drought.

  2. Samir
    February 18th, 2010 @ 6:10 am

    Have patience buddy. Manish Pandey yet to get drafted to the national side. For me the bigger concern is the spinners slot in the Indian team. Anil Kumble was great, not in league of Warne but could win a match for India. Are there young spinners coming up in world cricket as a whole ?

  3. Azfar
    February 18th, 2010 @ 9:28 pm

    Right On Sir G..seems like Indians heard you loud and clear..

    Laxman did come and in and solidify the middle order in 2nd test. But with 4 centuries and all round bowling the whole team performed..Eden Garden played its unique role also!

  4. Gautham K
    February 19th, 2010 @ 10:14 pm

    Hi Geoffrey

    Am a big fan of your commentary.Its got the right mix of unbiased apt analysis and rumour.

    Indians were superb at Eden.My question is do you feel Sehwag has redefined the way batting is done in test cricket.

  5. Dean Measor
    March 21st, 2010 @ 5:18 pm

    DRAVID is a BRILLIANT batsman!!

    One of my all time favourites!

    Looking forward to him getting a knock for the RC’s if JK ever gets out. :-)

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