Big shoes to fill for Team India youngsters

Gone are the days when the likes of Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman used to be the face of Indian Cricket team and ours used to be the strongest batting line up in the world. Today the Indian Cricket team’s composition has changed drastically. Now the likes of Gambhir, Kohli, Raina, Tiwary, Rohit etc. have come to the party. They are not only quick off the blocks, but are also are better fielders.

With Sehwag, Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh donning the roles as senior members of the team in recent years, the confidence of the junior players are boosted, which helps them to take their game “one notch-up” even when the team is in dire straits. This can only come from a good mixture of senior and junior players in the team that was once led by great legends. Though Sachin is still a part of the team, he doesn’t play in every series because of his injury problems and prefers to reserve his best for the big cats.

The recent series win in Sri Lanka has only reflected the fact that Team India still is a great force, though they didn’t have players like Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh. This was the chance for players like Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary to justify their spot in the team with other senior players. But it was only Kohli, Raina and Tiwary who performed, while Rohit Sharma wan’t still able to prove his worth. He failed to score even a single double figure score, after being given a chance to play in 5 matches.

Although every player is bound to have a bad day, Sharma’s inclusion in the later stages was highly questionable. There are many positives to take back from this tour but negatives shouldn’t be ignored as the fielding and bowling looked a bit out of sorts although the team settled into a rhythm after 3 matches. The bowling department also was up to the mark barring a few matches, but Sri Lanka could have easily pounced back in some of the matches. Zaheer has done a good job in mentoring the new-comers, but India will feel the pinch once he leaves a void in the bowling line-up after his time.

This win has come at a good time because the World Cup T20 in Sri Lanka is round the corner. This win is also a good chance to erase all the bad memories India had earlier with Sri Lanka.