Chennai, Sep 20 (PTI) Along with rescuing India from a shaky 144 for six, the 199-run stand between R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja here against Bangladesh served as a reminder to their value as lower-order batters, but it also posed that proverbial million-dollar question — who is next in line?
Ashwin has just turned 38 and Jadeja is a couple of months shy of touching 36, and both of them are certainly in the winter of their careers.
The way Ashwin and Jadeja kept reinventing themselves to keep pace with the evolving demands of the game has been remarkable.
For a good while in the early and middle parts of their respective careers, both Ashwin and Jadeja, perhaps, did not give as much attention to the second suit in their skill sets.
There were isolated sparks during that phase, but from the 2020-21 season onwards they have been transformed into a more glowing flame.
During this period, Ashwin, who often walks in at No. 7-8, has been involved in six 50-plus stands with the remaining batters, while Jadeja, who comes in at No. 6-7, has forged four 50-plus partnerships with subsequent batters.
“Yes, these two have been fantastic as bowlers for very long. But now, they have added more heft to their role as batsmen too. However, we now need to ready the next line of players, as these two will not be around for very long from now,” a former cricketer, who carried out various roles from coaching to commentary, told PTI.
So, what are the options that India can look forward to?
“See, Washington Sundar is an option but he has to convince himself that he has the skill level to succeed in all three formats.
“Axar Patel offers a similar case… if he wants to be a permanent figure across the formats then he needs to be more rounded. But we will have to weigh our options more closely for the next off-spinner behind Ashwin as I can’t see too many of them around,” he added.
What he might have had in mind is the fact that while Axar can be a handy customer on pitches that suit bowlers, the left-arm spinner is yet to show the control on shirt-fronts where Jadeja excels with his impeccable control.
“Manav Suthar looks an exciting prospect, and from what I have been hearing, the young man is quite a crafty spinner and a handy lower-order batsman. So, hopefully, he will give the team another option to look into, sooner than later,” he added.
Recently, left-arm spinner Suthar has picked up seven wickets for India C in the Duleep Trophy against India D, before making a crucial 82 against India B at Anantapur.
Vineet Saxena, a two-time Ranji Trophy winner with Rajasthan, also the home team of Suthar, is confident that his ward can progress to the next level.
“He’s just 22. I think we should allow him to play some more domestic cricket as it will add to his experience and maturity. But even as of now, he has a mature thinking process and is not scared of batsmen if they try to go after him,” tells Saxena.
However, India will have a far more vexed problem while looking to find a support line for skipper Rohit Sharma (37) and Virat Kohli (35), as and when they decide to call it a day.
The Indian selectors are trying for a phased easing out of seniors as they don’t want to face a scenario that Australia had to go through in the early 80s.
The Aussies suffered a massive erosion in quality when the likes of Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee, Jeoff Thomson and Rodney Marsh retired en masse and took nearly a decade to return to the top rungs of world cricket.
“The best option currently is to hope that the likes of Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul or someone like Mayank Agarwal come good and hold on till the next line of players come through, and it’s not a distant possibility considering the strong grassroots system in Indian cricket,” the former cricketer added.
