Right after the collection win Down Under in opposition to Australia, one would have heard many consultants speaking about the huge assets of the expertise pool that India boasts of. Rightly so, in the previous couple of years, with improved home construction and the IPL, there could be near 25-30 gamers who can play for the crew at the identical time, or in simpler phrases, India can subject two worldwide sides at the identical time.
This is what is occurring presently, the place a squad led by Virat Kohli is in England, for the Test collection, whereas a ‘B’squad for a limited-overs collection in opposition to Sri Lanka has additionally been introduced. These are actually unprecedented instances for any crew, maybe in the historical past of cricket, the place two equally in a position groups from a nation can be collaborating in occasions concurrently.
But one query lingers on. Where is the subsequent Kapil Dev, which India has been trying on for years?
This query is just not that straightforward to reply. One must dig deep, to search out a real fast-bowling all-rounder in the nation after Hardik Pandya pale away relatively shortly. The younger Pandya confirmed a lot of promise in his preliminary years, each in the Tests in addition to the limited-overs codecs, however his physique couldn’t address the rigours of worldwide cricket.
The end result? Multiple accidents inside a brief span of time, which suggests he can’t bowl successfully anymore, and that guidelines him out for choice in Tests. Of course, he’s solely 27 and might work his method to turn out to be fitter, however that doesn’t appear to be taking place for the second, since Pandya hasn’t bowled a lot in limited-overs codecs too.
In the previous, India was fortunate to be served by one other Baroda all-rounder who loved a respectable run in the worldwide enviornment and churned out performances with bat and ball equally. But will probably be secure to imagine that Irfan Pathan’s profession too was relatively unfulfilled. Though his stats in Tests inform us that he might have been the one for Team India. In 29 Tests, the youthful Pathan had 100 wickets and scored 1105 runs at a mean of over 31.
After the World Test Championship closing loss in opposition to New Zealand in Southampton just lately, skipper Kohli rued the absence of a real pace-bowling all-rounder, however his wait doesn’t appear to be ending quickly. The choices at his disposal are Shardul Thakur — who, although can bat, however can’t be referred to as a real all-rounder.
The ones ready in the wings are Shivam Dube and Vijay Shankar, who haven’t proven a lot of promise in the restricted alternatives in they’ve. On the different hand, in the home circuit, one can assume of Kamlesh Nagarkoti — who’s damage inclined and hasn’t performed a first-class match but, or former Mumbai Indians recruit Digvijay Deshmukh. The latter has just one first-class match to his title however can bowl fast.
For now, these prospects, India must wait longer and solely hope that one of these gamers realise their true potential and set the home league on hearth, to ultimately make it to the Indian crew. Having mentioned that, it might be too early to set expectations on these gamers, who’re even struggling to make it to their home groups for varied causes.
But in the meantime, India ought to look to put money into Shardul, who needs to be groomed as an all-rounder. The latter confirmed large functionality with the bat, in difficult circumstances in opposition to the Aussies final yr at the Gabba along with his 60-odd. His performances with the bat might change India’s fortunes in abroad circumstances, the place they endure as a result of their crew mixture of two spinners — R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, with the latter most popular for his batting skill.
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