Great Indian talent stock: Bounty of batsmen, shortage of fast-bowling all-rounders, bustling keeper-batsmen and limited spin variety

It was reminiscent of what unfolded in Australia during the 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. One of the main reasons why India’s talent pool is widening is because players are emerging from all parts of the country and not just the traditional centres, from Sriganganagar in Rajasthan and Rohtas in Bihar to Kodagu in Karnataka to North 24 Parganas in West Bengal. “If you look at Indian cricket today, Indian cricket is extremely strong, it’s extremely powerful. One of the big reasons for that is that talent comes from everywhere, from all over the country,” India’s former captain and head coach Rahul Dravid said in Bengaluru recently.

Though the core remains intact, beyond the current World Test Championship cycle, India will have to look beyond the seniors one-by-one. With a strong domestic system to back and A tour programmes to give exposure, the signs are healthy. The Indian Express takes a stock of India’s enormous talent pool.

Top order (Openers & No 3)

Just over 12 months ago, there were way too many openers in the domestic circuit who were vying for spot in the national team, that the likes of KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad decided to try their luck by repurposing as middle-order batsmen. Gaikwad has since returned to opening, but like many others, is in the queue.

In the Test squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill.

In the mix: Sai Sudharsan (TN), Ruturaj Gaikwad (Maharashtra), Abhimanyu Easwaran (Bengal).

Making the noises: Musheer Khan (Mumbai), Sudip Kumar Gharami (Bengal), Suyash Prabhudessai (Goa), Pradosh Ranjan Paul (TN), Rohan Kunnummal (Kerala).

Fallen off the pack: Prithiv Shaw (Mumbai), Priyank Panchal (Gujarat), Yash Dhull.

Middle order

It is the most crowded pack. At any given time, there are multiple players auditioning for each slot that in case they make it to the national squad, some have to bat outside their usual position. With a wicketkeeper coming at No 7, it leaves just three spots in the XI. And among the three spots only Virat Kohli’s is locked with the rest not having much cushion to get comfortable with the spot. With a good mix of right and left handers in the mix, the top priority for the selectors is to groom those waiting in the line. Though India have been preferring those with aggressive intent, they are also investing on old-school long format players.

In the Test squad: Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan.

In the mix: Baba Indrajith (TN), Suryakumar Yadav, Devdutt Padikkal (Karnataka).

Making the noises: Tilak Varma (Hyderabad), Rinku Singh (UP), Ricky Bhui (Andhra).

Fallen off the pack: Rajat Patidar (MP), Shreyas Iyer (Mumbai), Karun Nair.

All-rounders (Seamers)

It is a spot India have been waiting to fill patiently for decades. Since Kapil Dev, none of them has come close to being a frontline all-rounder. Hardik Pandya tried for a year before injuries made him give up on Test cricket. In the domestic circuit, there are a few in the pack, with Nitish Kumar Reddy high in the pecking order. It is one area where India are so short that Shivam Dube is featuring in the Duleep Trophy.

In the Test squad: None.

In the mix: None.

Making the noises: Nitish Kumar Reddy (Andhra), Shivam Dube (Mumbai).

Fallen off the pack: Hardik Pandya, Vijay Shankar.

All-rounders (Spinners)

They have been the backbone of India’s dominating performance in the long format over the past decade. With R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel and throw in the likes of Washington Sundar, their batting depth stretches all the way till No 9. On tricky pitches, runs from these all-rounders have often proved the big difference. And needless to say, they have been outstanding with the ball. Encouraging sign is more such talents are coming through

In the Test squad: R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.

In the mix: Washington Sundar.

Making the noises: Manav Suthar, R Sai Kishore, Saurabh Kumar, Nishant Sindhu.

Fallen off the pack: None

Wicket-keepers

Another spot that is facing plenty of competition. The most encouraging bit is all these wicketkeepers happen to be solid batsmen, capable of winning games with the bat too. From those opening the batting to middle-order and lower-order, there is excellent flexibility in the ranks.

In the Test squad: Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel.

In the mix: Upendra Yadav (Railways).

Making the noises: Kumar Kushagra (Jharkhand), Abhishek Porel (Bengal), Harvik Desai (Saurashtra).

Fallen off the pack: KS Bharat (Andhra), Ishan Kishan (Jharkhand).

* Sanju Samson although has been named as a wicketkeeper in the Duleep Trophy, he isn’t Kerala first-choice and plays mostly as a batsman.

Spinners

There isn’t much of variety here. Compared to yesteryears, India unfortunately doesn’t have the richness in the ranks. Thanks to the advent of T20s, off-spinners and leg-spinners are struggling to come up the ranks in long format with most of them preferring to be left-arm orthodox. As a result, the likes of Rahul Chahar, Ravi Bishnoi who all have made it to the India T20I side, haven’t been able to make a similar impact with red-ball. Beyond Ashwin, there isn’t a classical off-spinner emerging through the ranks. It has a few domestic coaches worried and the next three-four years could well determine whether spin bowling needs immediate attention or not.

In the Test squad: Kuldeep Yadav.

In the mix: Ravi Bishnoi.

Making the noises: Hrithik Shokeen (Delhi), S Ajith Ram (TN), Mayank Markande (Punjab), Shams Mulani (Mumbai).

Fallen off the pack: Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar.

Fast bowlers

The most encouraging sign is that every season a new crop of fast bowlers emerges through the ranks, especially in the age-group levels. But there are also instances where some of them struggle to bowling in the long format, which has prompted the BCCI to hand fast bowlers contract to preserve them for the long run to some of them.

In the Test squad: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Yash Dayal.

In the mix: Mukesh Kumar (Bengal), Arshdeep Singh (Punjab), Prasidh Krishna (Karnataka).

Making the noises: Avesh Khan (MP), Khaleel Ahmed (Rajasthan), Vidwath Kaverappa (Karnataka), Harshit Rana (Delhi), Tushar Deshpande (Mumbai), Umran Malik (J&K), Navdeep Saini (Delhi), Anshul Khamboj (Haryana), Vijaykumar Vyshak (Karnataka).

Fallen off the pack: Shardul Thakur (Mumbai), Shivam Mavi, Ishan Porel.