Two worlds run parallelly when it comes to organised competitive cricket on the international stage. Obviously, it is a no-brainer to categorise it into mainstream international cricket, under the accreditation of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and the franchise based T20 leagues that have mushroomed at the rate of knots, the presence of which (or the lack of which) would have seen cricket evolve in a completely different way. Cricketers become prodigies overnight and fizzle out from the scenes at an even quicker rate. In such drastically changing times, it becomes extremely hard for an aspiring cricketer to make a name for himself and cement a place in the national side.
Often, cricketers are found lurking between the prospects of a good domestic first class season, which may or may not guarantee them a place in the national squad and may leave them questioning ways to earn a livelihood at times, and the lucrative razzmatazz of T20 cricket, which would provide them employment and the necessities to make ends meet, but still not guarantee a shot at the prize they originally traversed for.
Having said that, it must also be remembered that it is from these leagues and domestic tournaments, that cricketers graduate every year to the next level and represent their countries. What happens after that is a case of luck, hard work, and perseverance and cricketers who get a mixture of the three in the right quantities more often than not go on to do big things for their teams.
In this piece, we enlist young cricketers – under 25 years of age – from the top 9 Test playing nations who have the potential to become the next big thing for their teams over the next decade or so.
Australia – Mitchell Marsh
A cricketing legacy and a family bred on bat and ball can only get you as far as the contention lines for the team. It comes with a burden, though, of doing what your ancestors did and maybe bettering them. If you compare the burden that Mitchell Marsh has been carrying since he made his international debut in 2011, you’d realise just how hard it has been to maintain his ODI batting average of 40 and the bowling average of 31. 1024 runs from just 37 games at a strike rate of 93, with 7 fifties and 1 century speak little of what the 24-year-old all-rounder has in store.
The ability to extract Morne Morkel-esque bounce off the surface, the ability to bring the ball back into a right-hander after pitching and the prowess with the short ball, when mixed with Marsh’s ability to steer the innings out of crisis with the bat and then finish it with a few lusty blows, makes him the typical, gritty, in your face, constantly-talking Australian cricketer who holds the power to shift the game on its head. Test match glory still awaits the younger brother, but having scored all but one of his 50+ scores batting at 5, 6 and 7, Marsh has a terrific opportunity to cement his place as the man to go to, in any situation.
Bangladesh – Mustafizur Rahman
From a rich cricketing legacy, we come to a country that is building its own legacy, perhaps for the coming ages to remember. Dominance at home has been the forte of every other cricket nation of late, and Bangladesh joining the league must not be related to their ‘minnow’ status that they have desperately tried to shrug off over the past two years. One youngster, for certain, who has been the face of the newly-found legacy of Bangladesh cricket has been the 20-year-old Mustafizur Rahman.Two five-wicket hauls in his first two games against arguably the best batting line-up in limited-overs cricket at the time announced Mustafizur’s arrival for sure, but to maintain that over a year now, with the skill and the ability to disguise the best in the business has been something unforeseen in the country’s cricket history.
Taking the variations that come with seam bowling to the next level, Mustafizur has carved out a niche for himself and hasn’t stopped just there. He has backed that with consistency. 26 wickets from 9 ODIs at 12.34 and 22 wickets from 13 T20I at 13.95 are short but promising stats that add to his guile with the cross-seamed cutters that have been the talking points in cricketing galleries for quite some time now. The only thing that the young prodigy needs is care and nourishment. A team cannot bank upon a single player to win the game, but then, in cricket, often in the scarcity of a quality line-up, one man proves out to be the difference. Mustafizur has already been that man, but he needs to be a lot more than that.
England – Ben Stokes
Not quite in the legion of Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff yet, but in Ben Stokes, England have found a cricketer who thrives under pressure. While those four sixes off him, hit by Carlos Brathwaite in the ICC World T20 2016 final, may take the sheen out of his prowess, it mustn't be forgotten that Stokes has delivered on more occasions than he has failed. 1395 runs and 58 wickets from 24 Tests aren’t surprisingly enchanting numbers, but the manner in which he registered those numbers against his name is the talking point of his career.
A knock of 120 against Australia in Perth, back in 2013, when England were being smacked left, right, and centre during that disastrous Ashes series, had shown the mental abilities that the youngster possessed. A counter-attacking 101 against New Zealand at Lord's last year, especially after England were trailing by 134 runs in the 2nd innings took the visitors by surprise and his three-for in New Zealand’s 2nd innings set up an improbable English victory. To better all of that, on a flaccid surface in Cape Town this year, Stokes marauded the bowlers on his way to a majestic 258 off just 198 balls. The reputation of Stokes, the hitter, took centre stage from thereon.
With the ball, the Durham boy’s maiden five-wicket-haul in Syndey during the last rites of England’s demolition of 2013-14 laid the prelude to an impressive home season the following year, wherein he proved out to be a more than effective backup to James Anderson and Stuart Broad, and his abilities to take wickets from both new as well as the old ball made him even more dangerous. A return five-for (6/36) at Nottingham against the old enemy and that too in an Ashes-clinching cause established Stokes as a permanent member of the new-look English side.
India – KL Rahul
Watching the jittery Lokesh Rahul play the falsest of shots against a 90mph bowler on Test debut at the Melbourne Cricket Ground may have forced one to believe that he too was one of those promising domestic talents who just couldn’t graduate to the next level. Hardly does it happen that a failed debutant is provided with a second chance in the Indian Cricket Team, but such was Rahul’s case that he not only shrugged off his nervy reputation but also, in two years’ time, showed that he wasn’t the one meant only for the longest format of the game. A game-defining century (110) while opening the batting at the Sydney Cricket Ground made the world stand up and take notice of the then 22-year-old boy from Karnataka, and a patient 108 in Colombo six months later established his prowess in home conditions.
Still, 256 runs from 5 tests at 25.60 do not speak highly of his right-handed batsman, but then, there is always more to a cricketer than just his stats. A welcome revelation, in this regard, was Rahul’s recent transformation into a potent limited-overs batsman, as after a good IPL season – wherein he garnered 397 runs from 14 games at 44.11 with 4 fifties – he transcended successfully into the international 50-overs format, plundering 196 runs from the 3 ODIs that he played against Zimbabwe, including a century on debut. The 24-year-old’s knack for playing aggressive cricket whilst maintaining classical copybook strokeplay makes him a lethal force to be reckoned with.
New Zealand – Tom Latham
The 24-year-old Tom Latham has, since his debut in 2012, shifted positions in the batting order – from No. 5 to the opening slot – for the greater good of New Zealand cricket, as he has formed a stable opening partnership with Martin Guptill. Although it took him 2 years to eventually graduate to the longest format of the game, 1292 runs from 18 Tests at 38.00 with 3 Test hundreds have cemented his place that the top of the order.
Two of his three centuries have come in the subcontinent while he has made 3 fifties in the West Indies, two in England and one each in Australia and New Zealand. His highest score at home is the 109 that he got against Sri Lanka in Dunedin this year. Clearly, Latham has the ability to adjust to various conditions and has the potential to score runs all around the world. Latham’s wicket-keeping skills add a cherry to the cake and he can be a vital wicketkeeping alternative to the likes of Luke Ronchi and BJ Watling in the years to come.
Pakistan – Mohammad Amir
Modern cricket’s favourite poster boy and the one who has had a clandestine affair with destiny, Mohammad Amir, has been unfettered by whatever has transpired over the past six years, as his deliveries still have the potency to trouble even the best batsmen in the world. The 23-year-old, since his return to international cricket in January this year, hasn’t looked even a shade different from the 17-year-old who had made his debut for Pakistan and had taken the world by a storm in 2009.
51 wickets from 14 Tests at 29.09, 30 wickets from 17 ODIs at 22.23 and 34 wickets from 29 T20I at 22.23 speak amply of the left-arm fast bowler’s abilities, and if one looks at his performances in the Asia Cup T20 2016 (7 wickets from 4 matches) and the ICC World T20 2016 (3 wickets from 4 matches), one would find that his pace and swing have only become more lethal. Hence, when one of those three tainted Pakistani nationals – who felt the brunt for their deeds six years back during Pakistan’s last tour to England – makes his Test return on July 14 at Lord’s – the same ground where he kissed the dust all those years back – cricket would take giant strides towards a probable unprecedented era.
South Africa – Kagiso Rabada
6/16 on international debut, including a hattrick made Kagiso Rabada the talking point in world cricket within the span of just 8 overs. The youngster went on to prove that such a haul with his first expedition with the white ball in international cricket wasn’t a fluke. 24 wickets from 6 Tests, 37 wickets from 20 ODIs and 22 wickets from 16 T20I have already established the 21-year-old as a permanent member of the South African team across formats.
More than his stats, however, it his fearless attitude and the ability to handle pressure at such a young age that has made him a sensation around the globe. Whether it was his game-defining last over against India in an ODI in Kanpur last year, wherein he defended 11 runs that were needed by India to win off the last over, against MS Dhoni, one of the better finishers in the history of limited-overs cricket, allowing the Indian captain to score just 4 runs off the first three balls before dismissing him off the fourth or the following year, when in a must-win encounter against South Africa, Rabada’s 4/45 helped South Africa bundle out England for 262, before Chris Morris’ heroics took them past the line with just one wicket in hand, the young South African has shown remarkable calmness under pressure.
Hence, the Proteas have found someone who thrives under pressure and has delivered in testing circumstances so far. They would hope that he continues to do the same.
Sri Lanka – Kusal Mendis
Six Tests and five ODIs don’t provide for a comprehensive statistical analysis when it comes to the case of the young Sri Lankan top order batsman, but the promise that Kusal Mendis has shown in the recently concluded Test series against England, wherein his team was humbled by the English, showed that his mettle can be put to sterner tests. Innings of 53, 35, 26, 25 and 17* while may not speak highly of him, but considering the fact that Sri Lanka lost the first two Tests of the three-match series comprehensively – with one of them being an innings defeat – Mendis’ efforts prove out to be herculean. Still in the nascent stages of his career, if nurtured properly, Mendis could be the answer to one of those several problems that Sri Lankan cricket currently suffers with – a proper batsman at the coveted No. 3 position.
West Indies – Kraigg Brathwaite
The travails of West Indies cricket have been well-chronicled over the past few years, but amidst the turmoil, the Caribbean conglomeration of nations has seen certain cricketers who have thrived despite the adversities and have proven themselves on the international stage. Kraigg Brathwaite is one of them. 1686 runs from 27 Tests at 34.40 with 4 centuries and 8 fifties qualify the 23-year-old as one of the brighter stars in the West Indian Test team.
A Test century against South Africa and a 94 against Australia, both of them coming away from home, and two more centuries against England and New Zealand at home speak in abundance about the talent that is there in store, and this opening batsman from Barbados can go on to be one of the lynchpins of the now-beleaguered West Indies Test team. During the disastrous tour to Australia last year, wherein the men from the Caribbean were criticised for more reasons than one, Brathwaite returned with two gritty half-centuries – 94 at Hobart and 85 at Sydney – and missed out on a couple of Test centuries only by a whisker. The ability to bat under pressure and grind out hours and hours of batting with tremendous patience make him one of the better prospects for the West Indies.
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