INDIAN CRICKET: EXPIREANCE AND YOUTH SHOULD GO HAND IN HAND

India had a glorious past in the world of test cricket. Their first series triumph at their home soil came against their arch rivals Pakistan. Indian soil has produced many legends like Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammed Azharruddin and Sachin Tendulkar. The present may not be as fascinating as the past as South Africa tasted India a humiliating test series defeat at home braking their 13 year record of remaining unbeaten at home soil. But with the likes of Reetender Singh Sodhi, Ravneet Ricky, Mohammed Kaif and Ajay Ratra the future of Indian cricket seems to be in safe hands. As the prominent match winners of 1990's are reaching the twilight of their careers, its time they should share their experience with their younger counterparts.

For the one-day internationals as far as the batting is concerned, the stalwarts Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid all at the modest age of 27 have enough time to serve the country. Thus the top order is secure for the next 4 to 5 years. The middle order has Azhar and Robin Singh aging out very soon and Ajay Jadeja is soon about to turn 30. Although the above trio has the fittest personalities presently but the scene may not remain the same after 3 years.

The absence of a genuine allrounder has been a perennial problem after the retirement of world class allrounders Kapil dev, Ravi Shastri and Manoj Prabhakar. Another prominent problem has been absence of a wicket keeper batsman. In the present age, where wicket keepers like Moin Khan, Adam Gilchrist and Mark Boucher are match winners with the bat too, Indian coaching academies should stress on the batting abilities of the young keepers. Ajay Ratra seems to be an interesting prospect, but he hasn't tasted the pressure at the international level. Reetender Singh Sodhi and Laxmi Ratan Shukla could emulate Kapil Dev but their talent needs to be nurtured properly.

Javagal Srinath has been the spearhead of the Indian bowling attack for quite some time and has been supported well by his new ball partner Venkatesh Prasad. But the recently concluded Asia cup had three young faces in Agarkar, Kumaran and Bhandari who could not handle the likes of Saeed Anwar and Sanath Jayasurya due to lack of experience. The idea to expose the young medium pacers to the international arena was correct but the strategy adopted of giving them a go together without any experienced campaigner was

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