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Who’s next? That has always been one of the biggest talking points in world sport. Who will be next after Jesse Owens, for example? Or Muhammad Ali. Michael Johnson and Carl Lewis, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert and Steffi Graf, Bjorn Borg and Michael Schumacher and Tiger Woods and Mike Tyson, Michael Jordan and Roger Federer… You get it, right?
Who’s next is a question that has captivated successive generations of Indian cricket fans. Who after Sunil Gavaskar, for example. Kapil Dev. Anil Kumble. The Golden Generation of Indian batting, the Tendulkars and the Sehwags, the Dravids and the Laxmans. In recent years, they have been the ones after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who are still offering their wares, and Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, who are no longer in the Test picture.
Now we know, right? Over the past six weeks, scores of twenty-somethings have raised their hands, probationary status conferred on them as much by the sequence of events as anything else. In this period, the Test series against England, the contours of the future of Indian Test batting have taken an early and tenuous shape. That form is not amorphous or dull; It is neo-modern, but it is also infused with ancient values.
Yashasvi Jaiswal. Sarfaraz Khan. Devdutt Padikkal. Dhruv Horse mackerel. The latter three debuted against Ben Stokes’ side, Jaiswal playing four international matches before the start of the series in Hyderabad. At different times in the last four and a half tests, sometimes alone, sometimes together, they have opened the door to a world of exciting possibilities. And these are not the only ones.
There is Shubman Gill, a semi-experienced professional who played his first Test three years ago. There is KL Rahul, who has already led the national team in all three formats and participated in 50 Tests. And who can forget the effervescent Rishabh Pant, taking more than baby steps on his journey to play again after the horrific December 2022 accident that could have been so much worse?
Jaiswal has been the standout batting star in this series. Having started his career in the Caribbean with a dad hundred, he has amassed over 700 runs against the English, including successive double centuries at Visakhapatnam and Rajkot. His appetite is evident from the fact that he has scored more than fifty points at least once in each of the five tests.
Sarfaraz, with a mountain of first-class runs against him, finally broke through in Rajkot with Kohli unavailable, Rahul injured and Shreyas Iyer, temporarily out of favour, dropped for fitness reasons. He immediately showed how comfortable he is on the Test pitch, emulating Gavaskar, among others, with two fifties in his first Test.
Jurel was the beneficiary of Pant’s misfortune, Ishan Kishan’s indiscipline and KS Bharat’s inability to capitalize on his opportunities. He has been very good behind the stumps and excellent in front; Few athletes have won the Man of the Match award in just their second event. Jurel’s brilliance with the bat in Ranchi under pressure in both innings earned him that honour.
Padikkal is the latest to reveal his hand in the red-ball crucible. He tried it almost by accident, after an injury to Rajat Patidar, the only “young” batsman (he is 30 years old) who did not translate promises and home runs into test contributions, a day before the match with Dharamsala. Padikkal has had a tough couple of years, an intestinal problem threatening to derail his career, but showing the stomach for battle, he has managed to recover between massive runs and has given a glimpse of the talent hiding in his wiry frame with a subliminal half. -century on Friday.
Gill, of course, is the leader of this ‘pack of brats’, if you will. He has already made a name for himself and it has done no harm to his reputation with a second century of the series in Dharamshala, clearly the group’s fulcrum going forward.
What is remarkable about all of these batsmen is that they symbolize today’s aggressive and fearless cricket, without compromising the fundamentals essential for success at the highest level. They are adventurous and innovative, but also technically proficient and extremely aware of the game. The ease with which they fuse the cheeky with the pedantic leaves one breathless. Their smart decision-making under pressure comes from a solid foundation in the national and franchise game, and they are all better prepared for the challenges they will face than the legends of eras past. Ultimately, the promise of an excellent tomorrow is not a pipe dream. As much as the series wins, that’s the biggest takeaway from the last six weeks.