Extravagant languidness

Gautam GambhirWay back in 2000, Delhi8217;s Gautam Gambhir, then 17, had impressed everyone with his attacking strokeplay. The southpaw fir...

Gautam Gambhir
Way back in 2000, Delhi8217;s Gautam Gambhir, then 17, had impressed everyone with his attacking strokeplay. The southpaw first demonstrated his temperament for playing big innings at the U-19 level and then carried it to the first class. He caught the national selectors8217; eyes in 2002 when he scored two back-to-back double centuries. A successful tour to the West Indies with India A in early 2003 paved the way for his entry into the national team for TVS Cup in Dhaka.

Unfortunately, he was unable to leave his mark as he scored only one fifty from the five matches. And then, the biggest reward: a call-up to India8217;s Test squad for the fourth Test against Australia at Mumbai, in 2004-05. An aggressive stroke player with the hunger to play long innings, his minimal footwork and over-reliance on hand-eye co-ordination, however, proved to be his undoing and have raised doubts over his potential at the highest level.

Time and again, chances have come Gambhir8217;s way but inconsistency has led to his ouster from the team. And the stastistics says it all for the 25-year-old left-hander. In the 19 ODIs that Gambhir has played, he has scored 480 runs with an average of 25.26. His last ODI came against West Indies in Chennai, where he again failed to give the team a good start.

Chawla8217;s day out
Piyush Chawla
Pencilled as a replacement to India8217;s longest serving war-horse Anil Kumble, 21-year-old Piyush Chawla has the onus to carry forward the legacy of spin tradition of the country. After making a first class debut last year, the leg-spinner from India8217;s new cricket nursery Uttar Pradesh, Chawla impressed one and all at the Under-19 World Cup in 2006. The watermark of his career so far has been the googly that fetched the prized scalp of Sachin Tendulkar at the Challenger series. His brilliant control and variation coupled with the heart to give the ball some air make him a special cricketer with a lot of possibilities. Making a Test debut against Andrew Flintoff8217;s English side last season, Chawla ran into a rough weather and came under serious onslaught from Kevin Pietersen. But the young man was back to his wicket-taking way in first class cricket forcing selectors to have a re-look after the fiasco in the Caribbeans.

Maverick on a roller-coaster
An offie and a handy bat, a safe pair of hands in a not so mobile body8212;a complete all rounder8212;that8217;s what describes Ramesh Powar. His consistent performance in the domestic circuit has impressed the selectors ever since his debut and as a result he made it to the Indian squad for the tour of Pakistan in 2004. His off-spin along with his batting stood the test in the couple of one-day Internationals he played in Pakistan.

His debut tour really impressed the selectors as he bravely stood up in front of the fiery bowling of Shoaib Akthar and Mohammad Sami. An ideal bits-and-pieces player, Powar returned to the one-day side early in 2006 after being dropped form the squad, and is now armed with a new delivery 8212; a drifter which has helped him grab 63 scalps this season. In the 18 ODI matches he has scalped 24 wickets at an average of 27.62.