Prospective openers for test matches

[Rohit S. Ambani]

Jiwanjot Singh has phenomenal record on Mohali pitch! btw great name !!!!!

[Sean Bradley]

For a moment i thought Jiwanjot singh is the son of Navjot Singh, btw, who is P Dogra, and why has OP not mentioned him in his list of probables? Next best average of 96.

[India-KXIP fan]

Jiwanjot Singh has phenomenal record on Mohali pitch! btw great name !!!!!

The impressive thing has been him performing in the recent low scoring games. The pitches in Mohali also were not flat if you look at opposition scores.

[Number]

Jiwanjot singh has been good so far. Lets see if he can continue it. Although most impressive batsmen for Punjab has been Uday Kaul who has been dismissed only once where most pitches have been seamer friendly. It really surprises me when how they select likes of Uthappa for South Zone when Akshat Reddy is performing so well.

[The Outsider]

Jiwanjot has been very impressive. I feel Rahane can be much more effective in the middle order and should be looked at from that perspective. Mukund has the right temperament, but not sure if he has rectified his technical glitches. Has anyone watched him recently? Don't think Vijay has much of a future given how his game has been shot post IPL. Chand definitely needs a full FC season before passing judgment or rushing him in the team.

[rkt.india]

For a moment i thought Jiwanjot singh is the son of Navjot Singh' date=' btw, who is P Dogra, and why has OP not mentioned him in his list of probables? Next best average of 96.[/quote'] Dogra is not an opener. I am talking about openers here.

[gakgupta]

Prospective openers for test matches Well, test matches could be won, if a team has good openers and bowlers capable of taking 20 wickets...... India, doesn't have bowlers who can take 20 wickets against quality oppositions even in home conditions. Infact, If you follow domestic cricket, it's heart-breaking as there is very less hope for upcoming quality bowlers. However, there seems a ray of hope, as far as, openers are concerned. With current openers, giving more importance to IPL and champion league, might not go on for long. Ego clashes with captain is not helping them either. Even , fitness will be a problem. So, lets look at the prospective openers. Here goes the list 1) Jiwanjot singh : Burst into domestic circuit and set the cricket field on fire........Over the past few years we have seen lot of one season wonders.Hopefully, he is not one of them. Haven't seen any of his videos yet, but have a gut feeling that he is here to stay. He got centuries in mohali, which I reckon is the toughest pitch in india for a opener.Experts say, quality of a player can be better judged in second season. let's keep the fingers crossed. Verdict: Did enough to get into India A team. He should be rewarded with a tour game against australia, as well. He should be in the indian team in an year or so 2) Prashanth Chopra : I might have got this guy's name wrong. He played for indian U19's this year as opener. Plays for himachal Pradesh in Ranji's. Of what I have seen, he has temperament and skill to be an opener. He has patience and left the ball well in australia. He played better than any indian in U19 tour. It might take some time before people start talking about him. But he is next in line for me. Hugely impressed by the way he handling the pacers. Looks like he got couple of big scores this season. 3)Unmukt Chand : He is just 19 and already played couple of seasons for delhi. There is lot of hype around him. He has technique but temperament is the issue. Once, he can figure out his game (what works for him and what not) like Kohli, he can be a huge prospect. Hopefully, in a year or so, he might be drafted into One day side. But has to work hard to get into a test side. Others : Mukund, Vijay, Dhawan uttappa ...etc etc.....: Neither have technique or X factor to represent india . Might continue to score tons of runs in domestic arena but will falter at the highest level. But would love to be proven wrong

[PSB_Zone]

With dhawan scoring heavily , he got to be given a luk Rahane and dhawan are my openers

[rkt.india]

aakshath reddy from Hyderabad.

[JaFanatic]

akshath reddy and jiwanjot singh are my pick for the future. hopefully one of them will succeed:two_thumbs_up:

[gakgupta]

aakshath reddy from Hyderabad.

Have u seen him play?.....How is his back foot play......I am from hyderabad as well and usually pitch in hyderabad is flat.....so, can't take decision on runs scored...

[rkt.india]

Have u seen him play?.....How is his back foot play......I am from hyderabad as well and usually pitch in hyderabad is flat.....so' date=' can't take decision on runs scored...[/quote'] saw him in IPL, looked technically efficient, he has scored runs when others from his team failed.

[Chandan]

So who can be our reserve opener? Does Mukund look the best bet? The three A tours next year, two at home and one away will certainly give firm idea if selections have continuity and are not random as under Srikkanth and co.

[maniac]

Mukund seems to have good temperament to play on tougher pitches..but in England he did show occasions when he was a mini-Pokemon like our mega-pokemon Gambhir. I would say our openers that we have among probables,I am not talking about Akshat and JiwanJot on whom we are speculating but the likes of Gambhir,Sehwag,Vijay they all don't seem to be a good judge of leaving the ball.

[The Outsider]

Unmukt has been very ordinary in Ranji this season. Clearly is not ready for test matches. Prashant Chopra's game looked nowhere close to international level of the little I saw in the U-19 WC. He has been struggling in Ranji as well. There is a gap of class between U-19 and even an average FC competition like Ranji and these two should spend at least 1-2 seasons in FC cricket and show they can score at that level. Jiwanjot is by far the biggest find of the FC season in batting. Hopefully, one of Punjab's matches will be shown on TV soon. But he has clearly scored in some tough conditions in North India where a quite a few batsmen have struggled. Looks to be the most promising of the lot. Then as rkt mentioned there is Reddy. Don't know much about him. Mukund hasn't scored runs this season and neither has Vijay. Mukund seems to have the temperament, but not sure if he has improved his technique. Vijay's game has been completely shot post IPL and is a waste of time for now.

[harmuk]

Keep an eye on the young 21 year old from Hyderabad Akshath Reddy. He will be the dark horse in all this and in 2 years time could be the opener India has been looking for in Tests. Had a very decent Ranji season and a batsman with very good temperament and a wide range of shots.

[JourneyMan]

Don't know why Rahane HAS to be at 3, he looks well suited to opening the innings.

[Sooda]

^ Yes though he struggled in WI as opener with the A team. He should open I think, given the lack of options. Should have been tried vs NZ really.

[rkt.india]

Unmukt has been very ordinary in Ranji this season. Clearly is not ready for test matches. Prashant Chopra's game looked nowhere close to international level of the little I saw in the U-19 WC. He has been struggling in Ranji as well. There is a gap of class between U-19 and even an average FC competition like Ranji and these two should spend at least 1-2 seasons in FC cricket and show they can score at that level. Jiwanjot is by far the biggest find of the FC season in batting. Hopefully, one of Punjab's matches will be shown on TV soon. But he has clearly scored in some tough conditions in North India where a quite a few batsmen have struggled. Looks to be the most promising of the lot. Then as rkt mentioned there is Reddy. Don't know much about him. Mukund hasn't scored runs this season and neither has Vijay. Mukund seems to have the temperament, but not sure if he has improved his technique. Vijay's game has been completely shot post IPL and is a waste of time for now.

Karnataka's Lokesh Rahul who has been following Rahul Dravid's path, was in U19 team in 2008, just made a great start to his FC career this season with a half century in fitst and a 157 in second match on a greenish track in NMysore, but he still has a long way to go, same with Jeevanjot and Reddy. I have my eyes on these 3 guys. Unmukt and Chopra are still far from being test openers. I like CHopra more as a test player as he had shown the patient in Aus and has good back foot game.

[Cevno]

Vijay was overrated anyway, because he "looked good". Mukund better than him, imo even though he maybe out of form.