5 young cricketers who could be next generation superstars

Cricketing icons Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Graeme Smith and Mahela Jayawardene have all retired from the game in the last 2-3 years, leaving a huge void in international cricket currently. The above mentioned ones were not just great cricketers but also thorough gentlemen, enriching the game of cricket on the whole.Whenever there is such an exodus of top quality cricketers, questions are always raised about whether players of a similar ilk can be produced in the future. But the game ultimately does move on, and Im sure we will be waxing lyrical about the next generation of cricketers in 10-15 years' time.Here are 5 young players with the potential of taking the world cricket by storm in the next few years:

#5 Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler, without a doubt, is one of the most enthralling batsmen to watch in world cricket at the moment. A product of T20 cricket, the wicketkeeper-batsman is one of a handful of cricketers with the ability to hit the ball 360 degrees, making him almost impossible to bowl to.

The highlight of his brief international career till date is the breathtaking hundred he scored against Sri Lanka in an ODI at Lord’s, a couple of months back, to almost win England the match from a desperately hopeless situation. That hundred showcased to people that he is far more than just a T20 specialist.

With Matt Prior’s decline in the last one year, he has managed to grab the wicket-keeping slot in Test cricket, which illustrates the rapid strides Buttler has made in his cricket over the last 6-8 months. While whether he has the credentials for Test cricket remains to be seen as yet, there is no doubt that he can go on to become an England great in the shorter formats, and, who knows, he might well have it in him to play a similar role to the one Adam Gilchrist played for Australia in Test cricket. Let’s not forget that Gilchrist’s wicket-keeping was also very much a work-in-progress when he started his Test career, but he made tremendous improvements in his glovework with time, to become one of Australia’s greatest cricketers of all time.

#4 Mitchell Marsh

Considering Mitchell Marsh’s sparkling all-round ability, it shouldn’t be long before Marsh becomes a permanent fixture of the Australian cricket team. Great things have been expected from Mitchell, younger brother of Shaun, ever since he led Australia to victory in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup. A couple of years back, though, it appeared as if he has lost his way with him making the headlines for his misdemeanours off the field.

He has, thankfully, got his career back on track since then, providing an extremely bright future for Australian cricket. He is probably a batting all-rounder at the moment, but, over time, he can be expected to thrive in equal measure in both departments. He has already got a taste of international cricket, having made a few appearances for his country in 50-over and T20 cricket, and those experiences should have only made him hungrier for future success.

#3 Pat Cummins

When Pat Cummins took 6/79 in the 2nd innings of his Test debut against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2011, one would have thought that Cummins, who was just 18 then, would establish himself as one of the most fearsome fast bowlers in a couple of years’ time . But he hasn’t even played a Test since then and hasn’t been able to make much progress in his international career. That of course, though, is through no fault of his own. He has, unfortunately, been repeatedly plagued by lower back stress fractures, often ruling him out of action for 6-8 months at once.

With Cummins being so prone to injuries, there are slight doubts whether he can ever fulfill his early promise. What there is no doubt about, nevertheless, is the fact that the New South Wales quick is a supremely talented one. He is capable of bowling outswingers at 150 kmph when fully fit and doesn’t shy away from having a word or two with the batsmen: a lethal combination for a fast bowler.

He is still just 21 years old; perhaps that’s the reason he has endured so many injuries, with his body not yet fully ready for the rigours of fast bowling. Hopefully, he has a long career ahead of him for Australia across all formats of the game.

#2 Quinton de Kock

The fact that Quinton de Kock, at the age of 21, has already established himself as South Africa’s No. 1 gloveman in limited-overs cricket and is well on his way to doing so in Tests tells us a thing or two about his immense talent.

De Kock first came to the notice of the cricketing world when he scored 284 runs in 6 matches during the Under-19 World Cup in 2012, with a highest score of 126 and an average of 48.33, to end up in the top 5 run-getters of the tournament.

The South African selectors didn’t want to waste anytime in getting him into the national fold and included him in South Africa's T20I series against New Zealand in the 2012-13 season, and he hasn’t looked back since. In addition to making his Test debut against Australia in February 2014, he has scored 1000+ runs from just 21 matches in ODI cricket, becoming the joint-fastest in terms of number of matches.

#1 Sanju Samson

There are not many better judges of a cricketer than Rahul Dravid. So, when he picks out Sanju Samson as one to watch out for, it has to be taken notice of. Dravid, after all, has worked closely with Samson for the last 2 years at Rajasthan Royals and is fully aware of Samson’s boundless cricketing ability.

Samson, who, at the age of 19, has already become the face of cricket in Kerala, came into the limelight during the 2013 IPL season when he made a match-winning 63 off 41 balls for Rajasthan Royals against Royal Challengers Bangalore. His performances during the season led to him being retained by his franchise for the 2014 season, putting a lot of pressure on fairly young shoulders. But he took to the pressure like fish to water as he scored 339 runs from 13 games and finished as the Royals’ leading run-scorer along with Ajinkya Rahane. He continued his good form with an impressive series against Australia ‘A’ in Australia in July-August 2014, where he once again finished as the leading run-scorer for his team with 244 runs at an average of 81.33, thereby helping himself earn his first call-up to the Indian squad for the upcoming ODI tour of England.

While Samson has earned recognition for his exploits in limited-overs cricket until now, he has had two impressive seasons in the Ranji Trophy for Kerala, showcasing his ability to play the long innings when needed.