Downgrading to upgrade

We already know that the Indian middle-order is aging and the players will need to be replaced soon. Waiting in the wings are young guns who have made a mark in the shorter version of the game, but have faltered in the longer versions

I am talking to you, Rohit Sharma. For all your pedigree and the publicity you are getting, it is sad that you have scored just ONE century in your first-class career. Rarely has a batsmen with such lousy results been feted by "greats of the game" as you have been. And fret not, you are not the only one - Virat Kohli has 3 centuries (including the 197 he hit two days ago), Manoj Tiwary has 6, and Suresh Raina has 5.

Yes, first-class centuries are not the best indicator of success in the international arena (after all, Graeme Hick had (gulp) 57 before he made his Test debut), but couple that with inexperience in the longer version and we may end up having their confidence destroyed before they even start.

Of the four batsmen currently shoring up the middle-order, I suspect that Ganguly has another comeback left in him, but his will to keep fighting his detractors with not flicker much longer. Tendulkar, I am convinced, has a burning desire to play until, at least, the 2011 World Cup which will be held in India (and even if he wants to retire, his sponsors will surely put a lot of pressure on him to hold on). Rahul Dravid, I fear, will be the first to actually hang up his boots. He has always been good about acting as soon as he sees the writing on the wall (no pun intended). He resigned from captaincy and opted out of the Twenty20 World Cup before he could be shown the door. Similarly, I expect that he will retire from international cricket before the selectorial committee reduces him to fighting for his spot through the media.

So who do we insert into the team to replace Dravid? The player has to have the following characteristics:
a) an ability to play the opening bowlers
b) be able to play an anchoring innings
c) be prepared to play long innings (therefore has to play spin well)
d) be a very safe fielder (an hugely overlooked aspect of Dravid's contributions)

(If you don't believe me about the fourth point, you definitely will when Dravid takes 5 more catches to equal the world record for most catches by a fielder (a record currently held by Mark Waugh). Lest you think this is a function of longevity, Waugh played 128 Tests for his 181 catches, while Dravid has played 125 for his 176 catches.)

But I'm digressing from my main point. The batsman to replace Dravid has to be one who can also withstand the sharpest barbs of the opposition and the heated atmosphere of Test cricket. Do we know of a player like this? Yes we do!

(By the way, supporters of Yuvraj, Kaif, and Badrinath, please calm down - none of them have regularly played opening bowlers at the start of a match.)

I present to you, India's best hope at the #3 spot for the next 5 years:

(photo from CricInfo)

Aakash Chopra was the second-leading run-scorer in the Ranji Trophy last year (he has already scored a mammoth 182 against an international side in his first game of the season this year), scored 330 runs to help his team win the Duleep Trophy (making him the leading run-scorer in all first-class cricket in India last year), and has played 10 matches for India - of which 6 were against the Australians, 2 against Pakistan (in Pakistan). He was part of the Indian team that ruined Steve Waugh's final series and won a Test series in Pakistan shortly thereafter. This is what John Wright, who was the coach when Chopra was in the squad, had to say in his book, Indian Summers:

Aakash was dropped (from the Indian side) the following year, but it would be an utter waste if he's consigned to the scrapheap, because he delivered the goods in the toughest environment and is the best bat-pad catcher I've ever seen.

Separating Sehwag and Gambhir now would be foolhardy and Chopra brings in an added stability at #3 since he has played extensively with both of them, so a quick wicket will not slow down the running between the wickets, as tends to happen when Dravid comes in. For now, while Dravid is still playing for India, Chopra will be the ideal 12th man. He is willing to wait his turn, and should (heaven forbid) one of the openers get hurt or need to be rested, he can slot right in without missing a beat.

It all makes perfect sense to me. What do you think?

P.S. An lip-smacking bonus will be his columns in the newspaper as they will have an additional dimension of coming from the inside.

P.P.S.S. I wish he would sit down someday and write about the two historic tours that he was on - the Indian tour to Australia in 2003-04 and the tour to Pakistan later that year. I'd pre-order THAT book as soon as it was announced.