There is no greater sight in cricket than watching a young player making a mark in the highest level and plotting his steady rise. Infusing new blood into any organization is a thrilling process and specially in sports, the blooding of youngsters is a truly wonderful spectacle.
India having suffered one of its most humiliating defeats in the last decade this summer in England, took on the same team at home, in a series dubbed as the 'revenge series'. With four matches done, the scoreline is 4-nil with India winning. This is against the same team that a couple of months ago handed the same result to India, complete destroying the Indians in England. Shows just how big home advantage is in cricket and how the failure of the visiting team to adapt to the conditions can result in a very one sided affair.
This series from India's point of view has been not so much as avenging their loss in England this summer as the press play it out to be but rather prove a point that they are truly a great ODI team that deserved to win the World Cup earlier in the year. However winning in your own backyard against a team that has completely failed to understand the subcontinent condition hardly proves a point. But the fact that this Indian team lacking most of its key players and is a largely young experimental squad does goes some way proving a point.
This Indian team consists of many youngsters and some of them have made the most of this opportunity and have managed to put their names as bright future prospects. Some of them include Mumbai's Ajinkya Rahane, Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron, Ravindra Jadeja and Vinay Kumar. Also some established players such as Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin have showcased to the world just how influential they can be.
This series has brought out so many new faces in Indian cricket and for once I actually am positive about India's bench strength. This is just the start and most of these players have a very long road to travel still, but they have taken their first couple of steps in that direction and that is definitely something to be happy about.
One of the players who has caught my attention throughout this summer and now has been young Rahane. The small opener from Mumbai has some major talent and I'm sure that he's one who will have a very very successful career representing India if he is willing to be committed to that cause. He is technically strong and has a wide repertoire of shots. He has a very calm head and comes across as a very smart player who has the yearning to learn more about the game. He is very busy player and mixes the old fashioned grace with modern day aggression. As a very stylish player, watching him bat is a treat for the eyes and must say that it would be a crying shame if he doesn't represent India in whites one day.
Varun Aaron is another player who has been in the limelight for sometime and he finally got his chance yesterday as he made his debut. The youngster has speed and a spark in his eyes - something that has been missing in most Indian seamers. As someone who can clock regularly above 140 Ks, Aaron does get me exited but its still very early days for him and it is to be seen how his career goes. Whether it's the Irfan Pathan story or something more like Zaheer Khan.
Ravindra Jadeja has slowly established himself as an all-rounder. India in dire need of one such player might as well start to bank on this fine young talent in the near future for a permanent solution. In the recent series, he has shown his abilities with the bat and a very calm head as he finished a game for India along with Dhoni. With his already short career full of ups and downs, Jadeja sure is making most of this opportunity and I'm sure that if he improves his bowling, he'd manage to find a more permanent place and also perhaps a test cap. I'm impressed big time by Jadeja, but still am not sure if he is an extraordinary player cut out for the top level. He's a good player and one to watch out for. Thats definite.
Ashwin also falls in this same category. Like Jadeja the talent and potential is not in doubt, but I still have some question marks. Ashwin has so far gone about doing his job with no big fuss, but still hasn't really caught my eyes and like Jadeja I feel has a couple of points to prove.
One of the young stars of Indian cricket is Virat Kohli and his rise to fame has been a quick story. When I first saw Kohli play in 2007 when he represented the under-19 Indian team, I was sure I'd seen a bright prospect. And in the next four years, he has gone from strength to strength proving that small hunch I had. With an oozing confidence and some proud arrogance combined with an iron sense of self-belief, Kohli represents the youngsters of India, and this is perhaps why the marketing people and youngsters adore him. I adore him. I think he's the greatest find in the last decade (I must confess that once I said the same about a certain young pace bowler who could make the ball bend in shapes I've never seen before and that certain leftie named Irfan Pathan left a great deal to be desired in the end) and have no doubts about his future. This series so far has only strengthened that belief.
Right now the future looks a little bright with the blooding of these young new players, but this series can be very deceiving. The real test is yet to begin and only will when these youngsters come across a stumbling block where their technique, talent, temperament and their very being will be cast under a shadow of doubt. However every journey starts with the first step out into the open and that step has been taken by these youngsters. The aging stalwarts - Tendulkar, Dravid, and Laxman won't be here forever and soon it will be the time for some of these players to try to fill those big shoes and it is to be seen if those shoes can indeed be filled. Whatever the case, we have some very interesting times to look forward to in Indian cricket.
