The Replacements

Top-order batsman

Despite the overwhelming beauty all around him,including the scenic Table Mountain and the green of the splashing Atlantic Ocean,Rohit Sharma wore a long face in Newlands,Cape Town,minutes after being told that he didn’t make the World Cup cut.

Although there wasn’t a full-blown show of disappointment,Rohit probably knew that there was no one else to blame but himself. It’s not like chances were at a premium — having featured in 61 ODIs meant that he had ample time to showcase his talent,but he hadn’t come upto scratch in fulfilling the role which Virat Kohli beautifully took upon his shoulders.

The omission from the Indian team,though,turned out to be blessing in disguise. For a lifestyle overhaul was overdue — and that meant changing old habits such as putting an end to late night parties and beginning a strict diet regimen.

“I knew that day that I needed to get fit. I am just 24 and if I wanted to play more for India,then I needed to be fitter. My friend and team-mate Abhishek Nayar prepared a chart. I used to get an off only on Sundays. My daily routine became home-gymnasium-home-jogger’s park-home,” Rohit

recalls.

Changing habits was no overnight feat,and for a boy who was caught in the toxic fame-money vapour,the challenge was even tougher. Fitness was the magic-word,and being away from the World Cup meant he could take a step back and work towards the desired results. “When I saw my name missing from the Cup squad,I decided to work hard on my body,not my cricket,but my health. I did that for about two months,” he adds.

“Earlier,I’d eat whatever I wanted,but now even at home we stopped cooking food that would increase my calories. Only I know what I went through to resist sweets,” he shrugs,adding,“I was holed up in a gym and didn’t see a sunset for those 60 days. It helped me lose my excess weight and during IPL games too,there were times when I was dehydrated because I had lost so much of it,’ he explains. So just as the Cup winning stars returned to the IPL,they were re-introduced to a much slimmer and a lot fitter Rohit. Batting was never a problem,and Rohit drove his career right back on track with his fitness.

Rohit doesn’t hesitate to admit that the tour to the West Indies will be his best shot at redemption. “Without the seniors, the responsibility on players like me will increase. I’m ready to burden the weight on my soulders,’ he adds. Rohit claims he was not thinking about selection because it could distract him,and had left it to destiny,something he believes in ever since he became a Team India player even before representing Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy.

While his laidback nature has always gotten him into more trouble than he deserves,this time a sharper looking Rohit is well on his way to achieving his ultimate goal. “After all,” he says with a senses of determination,“I am yet to play Test cricket.”

‘IPL form was icing on Ranji cake’

S Badrinath,30

Middle-order batsman

During the early part of 2010,Dale Steyn started showing signs of becoming the deadliest fast bowler of the modern era. Unfortunately for Indian fans,S Badrinath’s Test debut coincided with the same moment,and Steyn took quite a fancy to the Tamil Nadu player.

Although the crafty batsman began like a rock,scoring 56 in an innings where eight others failed to cross double figures,Steyn made a mockery of his existence — dismissing him two out of three times for single digits. And Badri’s much awaited Test career ended even before it could get underway. But Badri,as his coach PC Prakash puts it,is not one to give up. “To be fair to him,Steyn was bowling exceptionally well,and he dismissed all the big names,” says Prakash.

So how did he deal with the blow of being dropped? “Badri has never played to impress the selectors. For him,the team cause is absolute. He just put his head down and did his best for the teams he represents — Tamil Nadu and the Chennai Super Kings.”

Although he has had four great back-to-back seasons with TN,it was his stint with the IPL franchise that really brought the 30-year old to the forefront. Trading his high-elbowed art for the long handle,Badri impressed one and all with 396 runs (at 56.57) this season,playing probably the most vital role in the side defending their IPL title. Never resorting to the audacious cross-batted strokes that defensive players lean towards in times of desperation,Badri gave the all-muscle top-order a real run for their money with his sublime skills. And with the selectors convening in his home town of Chennai to choose a squad for the West Indies,Badri’s name was on the top of everyone’s mind.

Now,having been selected for both the ODIs and the Test series,Badri has a real chance to prove that he belongs,something he couldn’t do a year ago. Says Prakash: “His IPL performance was just the icing on the cake for his domestic run. It proved that it is easier for a classical batsman to adopt to other formats,rather than the other way round. The confidence will help him prove that he belongs to this level.”

‘After my duck on debut,I thought it was all over’

Shikhar Dhawan,25

Opening batsman

Sixty seconds,two balls,no runs. That’s how long the hype —earned over years of toil in junior cricket,several thousand hours of hard work in the domestic circuit,and a few more blurry ones in the IPL — surrounding the then 24-year old lad lasted.

As skin-headed,tattoo-wrapped,diamond ear-studded Shikhar Dhawan (whose features resembled a confident gangsta more than a lad making his nerve-wracking Team India debut) walked back after his quick encounter against the Australians in Visakhapatnam last October,life with the big boys,and his international career seemed to be over — literally a few seconds after it had started. “The Visakhapatnam debut was a terrible setback. After I was out for a duck,I thought that was it — the first and last time for Team India,” says Dhawan.

With the second match in Goa washed out,the classy Delhi opener had all but blown the only chance he would ever get. Then life,and an inconsequential tour of the West Indies,decided to give him a second chance.

While Dhawan first got his opportunity because seniors were rested keeping in mind the all-important World Cup campaign,the second arrived due the big names pulling out due to fatigue. And this time around,Dhawan knows that he has one T20 and five ODIs to prove his impending point. “This time around in my second life,I have to make West Indies count,” says an earnest Dhawan.

When compared to several players from his age group such as Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik,Dhawan,the leading run-scorer in the 2002 Under-19 World Cup,was the last among equals onto the national fray.

But with a few solid knocks in the Caribbean over the next couple of weeks,Gautam Gambhir’s short-term replacement could be a long-term successor. And for that,as Dhawan says,he ‘will have to bat out of his skin.’ Like never before.

‘I can’t afford to lose this opportunity again’

Manoj Tiwary,25

Middle-order batsman

With eyes wide open,Manoj Tiwary admits he often dreams dark visions of the day he got injured in the 2007 series of Bangladesh. In hindsight,he sometimes regrets the diving attempt which led him to returning home in the middle of his first international tour. Had that injury not happened,says the Bengal batsman,life would have been starkly different — one void of years of struggle.

Tiwary explains how a single day has not passed in the past three years when he hasn’t prayed for a second chance. Sometime last month,those prayers were answered. For life has thrown another opportunity at Tiwary,and this time it has come after the senior players opted out of traveling to the West Indies. Someone else’s pain has yielded this gain for the talented boy.

“I don’t know about the others,but I have to grab this opportunity somehow. I can’t afford to lose it again,” he says. It’s inevitable that when the seniors return,he might have to go back into the mud bowls of domestic pitches,but for the moment one knock — he believes — can change things for him. Those who saw Tiwary against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy final in 2006-07 would not argue about his talent. He seemed then to be leagues ahead of the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli,but fate didn’t turn out as desired.

“A good series means I can secure my future in the Indian team,” he explains,knowing well that this is a depleted Indian side. It’s a real puzzle how Tiwary lost his touch when he went back to the domestic fields.

From the day when he played the lone international match of his career in Australia where Brett Lee knocked his stumps down,the Kolkata Knight Riders batsman seems to have hit a permanent slump. Tiwary too believes that it took him many years to understand where things went wrong.

According to the most talented product of the current Bengal set-up,it was a mixture of many wrongs that complicated his comeback process.

“At a time when runs were at a premium for me,many of my team-mates decided to join the rebel ICL,and the responsibility of taking the side ahead fell on my shoulders. And I clearly was not ready for it,” he says. “I had to change my game drastically to suit the needs of the team. Despite being the aggressive kind,I decided to morph into a defensive player and that led to total confusion. I realised my mistake later,but it was too late.” From the fringes of the Indian team,Tiwary was forced to shift into the category of has-beens.

But hitting rock-bottom did well for him,for he had no other way to look but up. Simultaneously,the IPL gave him an alternate platform to the top. “Scoring against international stars,the IPL helped me earn my confidence back,” he says with a smile.

“Earlier,I worried about my future and spent sleepless nights,but frankly speaking,I have just learned to live in the present,the hard way. For a cricketer it’s easy to lose focus once you’re in the Indian team,but life becomes much harder when you are dropped. I’m happy that I possess a stubborn will,and that helped,” he said.

And thanks to a fantastic run in IPL IV,the selectors rewarded that stubbornness with a berth to the West Indies. With sleeplessness giving way to satisfaction,Tiwary is now spending his waking hours on making the situation count. “This time,I really hope not to get injured during the tour.”

‘Pushed to the wall,he came back stronger’

Parthiv Patel,26

Wicket-keeper/ Opener

It was at the sturdy new foundations of the VCA Stadium that Parthiv Patel’s career crumbled like a soaked cookie. As news of Wriddhiman Saha being selected for the Test team filtered in,Patel,playing in a tour game against the visiting Proteas,probably realised the real depth of his fall. Forget being second best to MS Dhoni,Patel wasn’t even third in line. With Dinesh Karthik blocking up the back-up spot in the shorter formats,now the selectors had bypassed Patel for Bengal’s agile stumper.

From his child prodigy days,who broke into the Test team at the age of 16,the Gujarat lad’s career had now fissioned completely out of control.

But then,almost instantly,something unexpected happened. “He grew stronger,” says Anshuman Gaekwad,who was coach of Gujarat’s Ranji Trophy side at that time. “When pushed to the wall,Parthiv went back to the nets,and practiced day-in day-out. That effort is now paying off,” says Gaekwad.

Several hours of training later,his batting flaws were ironed out. And simultaneously,Parthiv’s stroke-making became fearless. Says Gaekwad: “He began playing square a lot more,punching,cutting,pulling with confidence.”

With players rested during the inconsequential New Zealand ODIs last year,Patel was reintroduced in the last two games. They were of extreme consequence to the keeper though,as his scores of 53 and 56 (his two highest) saw him being chosen for the last ODI in South Africa. And when the Windies selection meeting came around,his efforts weren’t forgotten.

Assured of at least five ODIs at the top of the order in the Caribbean,the world — built with the steadiest of foundations — now lies at the 26-year old’s feet.