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By Bhavya Kumar
Vasudevan
Ever since that historic Test series against
Australia back in 2001, the Indian team has
looked bright and steady while climbing the
ladder leading to success. There was something
about the team during that series that bonded
all the players together. It was the spirit
amongst all members of the team. It was a time
when the status and fortunes of Indian cricket
was to change. It has been 3 years since that
historic series took place. The spirit has not
died since then. It still remains within all the
members of the team. That is the reason why
India has got the tag of 'The best of the rest'
by playing some breathtaking cricket since
2000/01.
During this period the world has seen India
developing from an average team to a force to
reckon with. Like all the other teams, there
have been controversies and areas of concern
regarding the Indian team. One of the most
common debates has been that of the openers.
Who, Why and How are the three questions asked
when choosing an opener. Frankly, India has not
been able to answer these questions since a long
time.
To begin with, a name for the opener's position
is recommended. Based on the statistics the name
is confirmed. After playing a couple of Test
matches, the opener's performance is analyzed
and more often than not he is dropped from the
squad. This has been the case with the Indian
team ever after the great opening pair of Sunil
Gavaskar and Kris Srikkanth. Since then India
has failed to produce two quality openers
together. Navjot Singh Sidhu has been the only
quality opener for India in the last decade. The
reason for such failures to find good openers is
the quality coming out of the domestic circuit
which is less than the quality required at the
Test level.
Moving to India's current opening pair of Aakash
Chopra and Virender Sehwag. For the first time
in a decade, India has looked to open a Test
innings with reliable openers. Although there is
still time before these two openers can be
labeled as permanent, whatever they have
achieved so far has been commendable. Virender
Sehwag who is everything a Test match opener
shouldn't be continues to surprise the world by
his consistency and tremendous ability. On the
contrary, Aakash Chopra is a much more
conventional player than Sehwag, who with
experience has got the talent to become a
permanent opener for India.
However, the latest developments in Indian
cricket has sparked off a new debate. This time,
it is not a lack of options, but a case of
making the correct decision. Yuvraj Singh, who
has made a name for himself in the shorter
version of the game got a more than deserving
opportunity to represent the country in the Test
matches during New Zealand's tour of India. In
his 3rd match, he scored a century under
pressure against Pakistan to repose faith in the
selectors. With a star studded Indian team, it
becomes impossible to include Yuvraj in the line
up except at the top in place of Aakash Chopra.
There have been mixed opinions amongst the team
management regarding this issue. Yuvraj Singh's
ability to open the innings is not yet known. As
the most toughest and important series against
Australia draws closer, it will be wise to
persist with Chopra who has already faced
Australia recently on their own turf. Then
again, Yuvraj Singh has proved that he can be
very productive in a Test match.
India face a similar problem in the One Day
arena. Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and
Sourav Ganguly are three world class openers in
the line up. The opening partnership of Sehwag
and Sachin has been doing a commendable job up
to now. The partnership of Sachin and Ganguly is
legendary as they share 16 century partnerships,
which is also a record in one day
internationals. Sourav Ganguly's ability to
exploit any spin attack in the world makes him a
very dangerous middle order batsman. Perhaps
that is the reason why Sachin and Sehwag should
continue to open the innings. The decision is
going to require a lot of thought put into it.
Sachin has always played his best cricket when
opening the innings and Sehwag has the ability
to give flying starts. Both of them bat right
handed, so there will not be that added
advantage that Sachin and Ganguly have. However,
it is better to have options than not having
any. Strategies can be changed after a couple of
games and Sourav can come up to open the innings
if the current pair fail to provide any
partnerships.
Lots of thinking is required to make a decision.
Whatever happens, whoever gets selected it is
surely going to be a big dilemma for the
selectors and the management.
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