India boosted as tough away tours loom
NEWDELHI:For years, the favourite pastime in Indian cricket was ‘who will be the next Sunil Gavaskar’ as the search for a competent opening batsman to step into the big shoes of the original run machine continued after his retirement in 1987.
Though Navjot Singh Sidhu and Manoj Prabhakar were among those who took up that challenge, it was Virender Sehwag who finally answered the question, emphatically and unconventionally.
If the other question, ‘who after Kapil Dev’, was not raised as loudly, it was because batting failures were the focus playing abroad with the top-order under intense pressue.
The all-rounder’s tasks were shared, the lower order chipping in with the bat and top-order batsmen helping break partnerships with their bowling. Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag and Sourava Ganguly all have taken crucial wickets, stepping in when India played only four specialist bowlers to bolster the batting.
India have in the last two seasons found genuine all-rounders in R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Ashwin has four Test centuries and timing of shots reflects his role as an opening batsman as a junior before becoming India’s frontline spinner. Virat Kohli has acknowledged his consistency with the bat by promoting him to No 6.
Wriddhiman Saha too has contributed with the bat, and has three Test centuries while the Indian skipper has acknowledged Ravindra Jadeja shedding his diffidence as a Test batsman. Seven of Jadeja’s eight Test fifties have come in the last two seasons.
However, there is something compelling about a fast-bowling all-rounder.
He needs to fulfil the demand for aggression with bat and ball, and show natural athleticism, proving the X-factor.
This is where Hardik Pandya fits the bill. He can bowl at 140 kph, making him a genuine pace bowler who can support India’s strong new ball attack. And he bats with a certain freedom that makes him great to watch as the runs come in a torrent.
On Sunday, Pandya took on the Sri Lankan bowlers. He showed maturity by playing with caution till reaching fifty before ripping into the hapless bowlers with tail-enders for company.
CALM APPROACH
His aggressive showing in his debut Test series gives the team management a big boost as India are due to make a series of overseas tours starting in the next few months and where playing two spinners could be a luxury.
After Pandey’s impressive debut in the Galle Test, where he hit a half-century, skipper Virat Kohli said he had the potential to lift the team like England allrounder Ben Stokes has.
Comparisons with Kapil Dev, or even Stokes, may be premature, but Pandya’s talent holds huge promise as India, the No 1 Test side, look beyond dominating at home and in conditions that are similar in the neighbourhood.