Where are India's next test openers?

[JaFanatic]

Indian cricket has become a strange beast of late. Confused, condemned and quite incomprehensible - much like Frankenstein's monster. While the selectors fumble for answers and the board finds itself in a tight spot, the average Indian fan is left bemused. What happens to Indian cricket from here on is the question that looms large in everyone's mind. There's an obvious dearth of quality spinners, the fast bowlers on offer are unappealing, and the opening combination has been spiritless for far too long. Let's start at the top. The crisis of a consistent and sound opening partnership. Why has it been so poor? More importantly, why haven't India found replacements? Take the curious case of M Vijay, now known as a T20 specialist. He's the only Indian to have scored two centuries in the IPL, both thoroughly entertaining and enterprising. When on song, especially in the shortest format and while playing for Chennai Super Kings, Vijay seems to be one of the most gifted cricketers around. His comfort against pace and bounce, his ability to stay balanced even while playing outrageous shots, and his relentless aggression make you feel he is cut out for T20. Was Vijay always this sort of a player? Far from it. He started as a sedate opener who possessed a decent defensive technique and the patience needed to bat time. On his first-class debut, against Delhi, on a good batting surface, he consumed 192 balls to score 59 runs. It wasn't just his patience that stood out; he showed the ability to blunt Delhi's new-ball attack of Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma. He looked special, and had he progressed in the right direction, he would have been a sure-shot Test player in the making. Some players give you that impression. Vijay did. When I saw him next, in another Ranji game, he had developed horizontal strokes off the back foot and found another gear in his batting without compromising on his technical foundations. He remained an orthodox opener essentially - cautious at the beginning, seeing the shine off, playing late, close to his body and accelerating only once set. The last time I saw him was in the Ranji final in January this year, where Tamil Nadu were chasing a mammoth total on a very dull pitch with no bounce or pace. The pitch wasn't ideal for strokemaking, but if you put your mind to it and decided to be patient, it wasn't difficult to stay put. The new, but not necessarily upgraded, version of Vijay surprised me. He played a shot a ball and perished soon after. He had changed completely from a solid and somewhat placid batsman to a flashy and over-the-top aggressive one. A few successful seasons in the IPL had transformed this potential Test opener to a T20 batsman. Now, if Vijay tries to go back to being his old self, it will probably take only a couple of failures in the long format for him to give up and decide to pursue the skills necessary to succeed in T20. The IPL has inadvertently become the fall guy for everything that has gone or will go wrong with Indian cricket. Much of that blame, though, from a purist's point of view, is not misplaced. It is not just Vijay who has changed his game to suit the demands of the IPL; an entire generation of openers in Indian domestic cricket have changed their style of batting. No longer do you find young Indian openers spending hours in the nets to get acquainted with their off stump, and to master the art of leaving balls alone. No longer do they allow the ball to come to them and play close to their body. Their style is mostly about hitting boundaries. It doesn't really matter how the runs come as long as they come. You see a lot of flashing through or over the slip cordon, and high-risk shots like playing on the up even when the ball is darting around. Rarely do you see someone dropping anchor and playing the waiting game. So how did the whole fabric of Indian cricket change? Merely blaming the IPL is looking at the problem without its proper context. Firstly, the stability of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag at the top for six to seven years left little hope for second-rung openers. No matter how well these batsmen did on the domestic circuit, there was no place at the top in the national side. In the ideal world, it was a good problem for India to have. But once the IPL arrived, these second-rung players had an option. Playing for the country was no longer the be-all and end-all of a cricketer's existence. Secondly, T20 recognised and valued a radically different set of skills amongst openers. The new ball, instead of being left alone, was to be butchered. The harder and more often you could hit the ball, the more valuable you became in the eyes of the franchises. The money on offer was also significantly higher than that on the first-class circuit. Why should Haryana's Rahul Dewan or Punjab's Jeewanjot Singh continue to bat in the way best suited to the longer format while the IPL's scouts look through them and offer these players' peers lucrative IPL contracts instead? It's wonderful to preach the importance of playing the game for the love of it but it's difficult to console a youngster who is missing out on fame and money. The custodians of the game, the pundits, the media, and the people of this country, we all seem obsessed with IPL success. Ajinkya Rahane's average of 60 in first-class cricket over five seasons didn't create a ripple, but one good IPL season was enough to make him an exceptional talent to watch out for. We need to realise that openers and spinners need to radically change their techniques to suit the demands of the various formats of the game. While the more experienced players know how to make that switch, the younger lot aren't equipped to strike that balance. Which is why there aren't enough openers and spinners on the domestic circuit who can make it to Test level. Who do you then replace Gambhir and Sehwag with? The way out of this muddle is to identify young openers from the first-class teams who still have the skills and the temperament to succeed in Test cricket. Bring them in for further development of talent and monitor their progress, compensate them for their efforts (so that they don't feel insecure when their peers make serious money in the IPL), and send them to England for more practice during the summer. This period of restoration might take time but it is sure to reap results. Merely changing a few players in the current Indian squad won't change the team's fortunes. Unless India makes these radical systemic changes with a vision, it's unlikely they will climb the Test summit again. http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/598370.html

[Sooda]

He is probably overstating the bad influence of the IPL as it has only effected Vijay in this manner. Mukund seemed to have the grit but not really the technique and he barely plays IPL cricket. Rahane is not being looked at as an opener anyway- though he should be- and dosent seem to open for Mumbai anymore even does he?. The others like Dhawan are not test class However he is right about identifying the next rung of youngsters now- Unmukt, Jiwanjot, Reddy, Dewan and ensuring they do not go down the Vijay route and stay focussed on how to bad long

[Mahaa Raavana]

Proves the Point....IPL is PURE EVIL...

[bharat297]

I think long-term it looks like Rahane and either Vijay or Mukund will take the reigns. Mukund does have technical flaws but they're not as bad as Gambhir. He's also scored runs on A tours so he's not doing too bad. And regarding Rahane not opening much nowadays, I wouldn't be too concerned given that Sehwag never opened until he played international cricket. Unkumt Chand is also a longer term option too but I'd like to see him get some more runs on A-tours.

[Old guy]

lets bust some myths mukund did not score any runs in west indies a tour and vs nz his good inning came on flattest track clearly he is not good enough and vijay is not ipl specialist forget about him i think gambhir needs to be dropped and should only play first class matches for a year he has done it before and there is no reason after finding form he cannot play well again

[bharat297]

I dont think Mukund has been given enough of a chance yet. The sheer weight of his Ranji Trophy runs should grant him a slot in the A side and if he can put in some performances there then he should come in. The "clearly he is not good enough" line is silly given we've seen so many players who were really good for a few games and then got worse over time. As long as Mukund can work on his weaknesses and keep piling on runs then I'd give him a shot. Especially since our openers at the moment Gambhir and Sehwag have been in bad form for 2 years now!

[CG]

I dont think Mukund has been given enough of a chance yet. The sheer weight of his Ranji Trophy runs should grant him a slot in the A side and if he can put in some performances there then he should come in. The "clearly he is not good enough" line is silly given we've seen so many players who were really good for a few games and then got worse over time. As long as Mukund can work on his weaknesses and keep piling on runs then I'd give him a shot. Especially since our openers at the moment Gambhir and Sehwag have been in bad form for 2 years now!

Mukund is worse than gambhir in current form.

[bharat297]

Explain how you can conclude that given that Mukund isn't playing international cricket at the moment.

[CG]

Explain how you can conclude that given that Mukund isn't playing international cricket at the moment.

Mukund just hangs on the backfoot still is troubled by bounce.He had a ordianry windies a tour and has a ordinary first class season.

[yoda]

Yes, let's keep giving Rohit a gazillion games, but write off Mukund after a couple. One of the reasons why we suck is cause we keep giving endless games to failures and don't give enough to those who can succeed.

[bharat297]

Mukund just hangs on the backfoot still is troubled by bounce.He had a ordianry windies a tour and has a ordinary first class season.

I agree he has technical flaws but so do Sehwag and Gambhir and they haven't been performing for 2 years. My personal preference would be to go with Rahane and Vijay as I believe they are best equipped to handle conditions all over the world but my point is that it's unfair to write Mukund off forever purely on technique given that our current opening pair are exhibiting pretty horrible technique at the moment. I'm saying Mukund still deserves a spot in India A and if he performs there consistently he should be considered.

[bharat297]

Yes' date=' let's keep giving Rohit a gazillion games, but write off Mukund after a couple. One of the reasons why we suck is cause we keep giving endless games to failures and don't give enough to those who can succeed.[/quote'] Rohit Sharma has not played a single Test match despite a strong-technique and a first class average of nearly 60 and 2 centuries this season already. Let's not mix T20 and ODIs with Test cricket.

[CG]

I agree he has technical flaws but so do Sehwag and Gambhir and they haven't been performing for 2 years. My personal preference would be to go with Rahane and Vijay as I believe they are best equipped to handle conditions all over the world but my point is that it's unfair to write Mukund off forever purely on technique given that our current opening pair are exhibiting pretty horrible technique at the moment. I'm saying Mukund still deserves a spot in India A and if he performs there consistently he should be considered.

He has not performed well in ranji how can he get a tour spot.

[bharat297]

He has not performed well in ranji how can he get a tour spot.

He hasn't performed well in Ranji? Do you mean this Ranji season? If so, yes thats true. He's only scored 2 half-centuries but he has been a consistent Ranji Trophy performer for a few seasons. That has to count for at least a spot in the India A side.

[Old guy]

He hasn't performed well in Ranji? Do you mean this Ranji season? If so' date=' yes thats true. He's only scored 2 half-centuries but he has been a consistent Ranji Trophy performer for a few seasons. That has to count for at least a spot in the India A side.[/quote'] so he has not performed on a tours he has not performed in ranji ,he did not perform for india ...so why should he be in team?!

[CG]

I would give the punjab opener a chance on a tour.

[Old guy]

I would give the punjab opener a chance on a tour.

yeah tht would be good encouragement too which akash is taking about here to not change game for ipl:winky:

[bharat297]

so he has not performed on a tours he has not performed in ranji ,he did not perform for india ...so why should he be in team?!

Hang on a second! Stop making generalisations. He has performed in some A matches. He scored 1 century and 1 half century in his last 2 A-matches. This years domestic season is still early (only 7 Ranji matches) and he's scored 2 fifties. He hasn't scored big like he has previous seasons but lets wait until the season is over before we make random generalisations like that. At the end of the day, what is the point of the A tours? It is to give people that have performed well in Ranji Trophy exposure to away conditions. Mukund has scored 5000+ runs in Ranji trophy at an average of nearly 50 and he has performed OK (not poor, not great just OK) on A-tours. Keeping him in the A-side (not the national side) will benefit him as he has exposure to different conditions and will hopefully comeback a better player. We're too quick to dismiss a player as either "not good enough for international cricket" or "should be fast tracked to the national side". The A-tours are a good middle ground for players like Mukund who have strong Ranji records but haven't been able to adapt to international cricket.

[Old guy]

Hang on a second! Stop making generalisations. He has performed in some A matches. He scored 1 century and 1 half century in his last 2 A-matches. This years domestic season is still early (only 7 Ranji matches) and he's scored 2 fifties. He hasn't scored big like he has previous seasons but lets wait until the season is over before we make random generalisations like that. At the end of the day, what is the point of the A tours? It is to give people that have performed well in Ranji Trophy exposure to away conditions. Mukund has scored 5000+ runs in Ranji trophy at an average of nearly 50 and he has performed OK (not poor, not great just OK) on A-tours. Keeping him in the A-side (not the national side) will benefit him as he has exposure to different conditions and will hopefully comeback a better player. We're too quick to dismiss a player as either "not good enough for international cricket" or "should be fast tracked to the national side". The A-tours are a good middle ground for players like Mukund who have strong Ranji records but haven't been able to adapt to international cricket.

dude this is the last thing we need...past record for selection iin a tours! these tours are to test young cricketers give them exposer in tough conditions mukund only performed on flatttest track where one guy got double :winky: other then that he was super flop we followed whole tour in west indies he was clue less worst then tailender against tall fast bowlers 5000 runs got him into last few a tours but he did not perform there and is not performing in ranji so newer guys deserve a chance..!

[CG]

Hang on a second! Stop making generalisations. He has performed in some A matches. He scored 1 century and 1 half century in his last 2 A-matches. This years domestic season is still early (only 7 Ranji matches) and he's scored 2 fifties. He hasn't scored big like he has previous seasons but lets wait until the season is over before we make random generalisations like that. At the end of the day, what is the point of the A tours? It is to give people that have performed well in Ranji Trophy exposure to away conditions. Mukund has scored 5000+ runs in Ranji trophy at an average of nearly 50 and he has performed OK (not poor, not great just OK) on A-tours. Keeping him in the A-side (not the national side) will benefit him as he has exposure to different conditions and will hopefully comeback a better player. We're too quick to dismiss a player as either "not good enough for international cricket" or "should be fast tracked to the national side". The A-tours are a good middle ground for players like Mukund who have strong Ranji records but haven't been able to adapt to international cricket.

Ranji trophy is near its end not many matches left and tamil nadu will not qualify .