TRENT BRIDGE, Jul 28 (Internet): Chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar agrees that Indian cricket's Generation Next will have a tough time stepping into the shoes of some of the biggest stars that the team has ever seen.
He stops short of envisioning the kind of crisis that Australia plunged into in the 1980s when their Big Three - Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh - suddenly decided to zip into the sunset.
"We have some good youngsters in the wings," he said Thursday. "I am sure they will rise to the challenge. They just need to be ready for the day when the landscape changes," he added.
He accepted that the selectors and the Board had a particularly important role in the emerging scenario.
"We have to give them opportunities at the right time. We have to groom them properly so that their entry and stay in international cricket remains smooth," he said. "We can't take a bunch of youngsters straightaway to Australia. It will be disastrous, for both the players and the team," he explained.
The message is, therefore, quite clear. Even if the mighty Indian batting is quivering at its foundation, it won't be dismantled in a hurry.
He, however, doesn't see them crumbling in the immediate future. "Oh, they still have some cricket left in them," he said, referring especially to Sachin Tendulkar, who has suddenly become everybody's favourite whipping boy.
"They are all proven performers. They have scored runs all around the world and know how to overcome a spot or two of poor runs," he comforted.
"Sachin, for example, was brilliant in the game against the England Lions. India were in trouble when he came in to bat; they had some good bowlers too, including Broad and Tremlett, but he was devastating," said Vengsarkar.
"I can say while everybody was here, he was there," he said, showing the difference with his arms, one at his chest and the other about one foot above his head.
"I am sure he will come good. We anyway always take some time to adjust to the pitches and conditions when we are travelling," he conceded.
The former India captain could not pinpoint the reason for this anomaly; he, however, felt that it was an individual thing. "It is up to each player to figure out a way to overcome this problem," Vengsarkar said.
"In the first innings, for example, Karthik had no clue about Sidebottom. More than the swing it was the pace that troubled him," he explained.
"But by the second innings he had come up with a solution. It was a question of adjusting to the pace and he did, quite admirably," he added.
Vengsarkar conceded that Karthik had worked it out on his own. "I didn't really tell him anything. He was just a little quicker on his feet and in his responses. I watched him very closely, from a box adjacent to the Lord's balcony. And I must say he was really impressive, batting with total confidence," he said.
The proud owner of three centuries at Lord's felt that the key was to be extra alert at the international level. "Most of our batsmen, especially the younger ones, are not used to this kind of pace. They are often caught unawares by the extra yard," he said.
"They have to concentrate that much harder here and ensure that the faster delivery doesn't beat them. If they get beaten more than once, you can say that they are yet to make the jump to the highest level," he explained. Vengsarkar was, however, quite pleased that the Indian bowlers had acquitted themselves.
"Some of them were playing here for the first time. But instead of getting carried away by the extra swing, they stuck to their task and did a wonderful job," he said.
He was particularly effusive about RP Singh, who returned with a five-wicket haul and prevented England from running away with the Test. "The bowling has a settled look now. He complements Zaheer and Sree Santh very nicely," he concluded.
Plenty of cricket left in Sachin : Vengsarkar
FE Team | Published: July 29, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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