A year ago, it would have been heresy if one were to even insinuate that Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were not justifying their places in the playing XI. But, then like cricket, life too is full of uncertainties, some glorious and some less so. As far as the two Delhi openers are concerned, life has indeed come a full circle, albeit in a way they wouldn't have conceived possible even in their worst nightmares.
Shikhar Dhawan, who generally hogged the limelight for a period no longer than two months when the IPL was held became an overnight sensation in the aftermath of his scintillating, not to mention multiple-record breaking ton in Mohali. All of a sudden, Dhawan was the toast of the entire Indian cricket community with reams of newsprint being spent to extol his explosive ton in his debut Test while Sehwag and Gambhir were reduced to mere footnotes in the same pages.
The phrase "rude awakening" doesn't quite capture the jolt that the two erstwhile Indian openers must have experienced when it was announced that neither would be a part of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 squad. What's more, M S Dhoni's gambit to have Rohit Sharma open the innings along with Dhawan paid off with the duo forging two consecutive century run stands and in Delhi, the alarm bells have started ringing for the two Indian openers, who for a brief span of time were India's best batsmen.
Considered an underachiever for a long period of time, Rohit finally came good in the first two matches of the on-going Champions Trophy, notching up two brilliant fifties. Apart from Rohit Sharma, the other revelation of the tournament has been Dinesh Karthik. Although he hasn't quite had the chance to showcase his ability in the tournament so far, he was absolutely delightful in both the warm-up games and is sure to be a fixture with the Indian squad for some time. Neither Rohit nor Karthik are exactly what one might call budding youngsters but having waited in the wings (Karthik in particular) for a considerable length of time, they have come good and it doesn't look like they are in a hurry to leave the side. For the first time since the 2011 World Cup, the Indian batting order in ODIs looks settled and the selectors and captain alike wouldn't want to tempt fate by meddling with it in the foreseeable future.
This also means that there is no place for India's 2011 World Cup hero, Yuvraj Singh in the ODI squad. He managed to win his battle with cancer, but it looks like he has lost the war with the Indian selectors. To be fair to Yuvraj, one can't help but feel that the decision to re-introduce him into the national squad was taken in undue haste when logic would have dictated that he be given sufficient match practice prior to playing international cricket. As the proverb goes "There is no use crying over spilt milk" and Yuvraj too will be aware of that. Hurried into the squad or not, Yuvraj failed to shine in his limited outings with the Indian team and given the present scenario, he will have to rekindle the magic that saw him take home the man-of-the-tournament award in the 2011 World Cup if he is to make a comeback into the Indian team.
When he stays at the crease, Yuvraj likes to dominate the bowlers and seeks to entertain the crowd else he is wont to throw his wicket away at an early stage in his innings. With Yuvraj, there is no middle ground. To use that immortal aphorism in cricket, Yuvraj either hits out or gets out. A handy slow left arm orthodox spinner, Yuvraj's presence in the XI lent the team the kind of balance it had not had since Kapil Dev's retirement. But, Ravindra Jadeja, whose inexorable rise within the ranks of the Indian side has left everyone flabbergasted, has more than filled Yuvraj's shoes and ensured that India doesn't miss out on the services of an all-rounder. And the brighter Jadeja's star shines, the faster Yuvraj's forunes are likely to plummet. Of course, the presence of competition might force Yuvraj to push himself to excel further which might in turn lead to a call-back to the national squad. But, as things stand now, that seems like a distant dream.
The emergence of two fine young fast bowlers in Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar also seems to have taken Zahher Khan out of the selectors' purview. Yadav seems to be the answer to India's long quest for an express fast bowler and although he looks to be a bit rough around the edges, a few campaigns away from home in the seam friendly conditions of South Africa and Australia ought to take care of that. Bhuvneshwar, on the other hand is the conventional Indian military medium bowler capable of extracting movement from the pitch. In a nutshell, the Indian bowling line-up looks not only well balanced but it also boasts a great deal of variety with Ashwin, Jadeja and Ojha providing their skipper the spinning options.
It is the Dhawans, the Yadavs and the Jadejas who will write the foreword of the new chapter in Indian cricket history.