Indian Cricket: A new Fab Four on the horizon

Pujara and Kohli to India’s future in cricket

If international cricket nations were part of the Barclays Premier League, Australia would certainly be like the legendary Manchester United. England? Well, they would certainly fit the bill of Arsenal. Like Arsenal, they too haven’t won anything major for a long time. Next would be India. India is the perfect example of Chelsea. Like Chelsea India too have started a new era in their history. Like Chelsea, Indian cricket is extremely rich and richly talented.

The past few years has seen a change in Indian cricket. The baton has been passed on to the next generation. If the 90s had the sparking rise of a bubbly, curly haired teenage sensation by the name of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, the first decade of the 21st century saw a another Indian who this time was brash, aggressive and at the same time elegant.

Both of them had very good starts to their careers. Both scored their first test centuries outside India. The former made sure that a country with a population of a billion plus always stopped whatever doing to watch him and I wouldn’t be surprised if the latter too would have such an impact. In 1989 it was Sachin Tendulkar, in 2009 it was Virat Kohli.

1996 saw the rise of a player who made it through sheer grit and determination. He often played long innings and steadied the ship for his team. 15 years later, we saw the rise of another player who could play the long innings quite comfortably. He could play the quickies with stubbornness and the spinners with pure elegance. Both of them played the cover drive with ease. Their greatest ability was to play the rising ball with ease. Both if them represented the average Indian middle class family. If it was Rahul Dravid in 1996, it was Cheteshwar Pujara in 2011.

1996 saw the debut of another fabulous player. He was dashing, confident and very aggressive. He could play every shot in the cricketing manual with a dash of style, elegance and audacity. He drove the fast bowlers and often danced down the wicket to the spinners.

If it was Lords in 1996, then it was the rise of another Indian at Mohali in 2013. He too like the former was a left handed. Both of them play the role of an opener. Both of them decimate the spinners with their stylish stroke play. The former was certainly Saurav Ganguly and well, yes. 2013 certainly was the year of Shikhar Dhawan.

Well I wanted to place Ajinkya Rahane in the same category as a VVS Laxman. But thinking of Rohit Sharma, you can’t underestimate him either. Both Rohit and Rahane have a great future ahead and it would be great if both could provide knocks like how Laxman did.

1990-2010 were 2 decades where an Indian fan could always be assured that there would be someone always to save the team from a debacle. But since the ‘Fab Four’ slowly showed signs of retiring, every Indian fan was afraid as or who could replace them. But cometh the hour and there we got them. 5 players who are proven match winners. All of them could bat at any position. Along with Ishant Sharma, Ishwar Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami, they give India great hope in the future.

This is one of the best sides India has ever had. People might be talking about the debacles India might have had in the past few series away from home. But think about it, now we have got 8 players who would India hope anywhere in the world. And after a very long time India have a decent bowling attack to boast of. Sitting in the sidelines are Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav. Both of them, if groomed properly could be world class bowlers.

World Cup 2015 would be very difficult for this team who are short in experience to win it. But 2019 could just be right platform for them. By that time, we could see a Kohli who could’ve played during a desert storm or say we could’ve seen Cheteshwar Pujara drive the opposition with full effect. Otherwise we could see fourth innings master pieces or perhaps dashing strokes in the beginning of the Innings. We can’t decide the future but we can certainly make it.

The next decade or so would certainly be one of the most exciting for this cricket crazy nation. Outstanding talent and the will to win have made this Indian team a very dangerous team and it would be very interesting to see how it fares after say one or two years.