5 batsmen who could make their India debut in near future

These five young batsmen have impressed everyone with their performances recently.

Indian cricket at this moment is undergoing a change as it has an abundance of talent on the bench. There are batsmen, all-rounders, fast bowlers and spinners waiting for a chance to prove themselves on the international platform.

The India A side in the guidance of India great Rahul Dravid is fast becoming one of the best sides to watch out for in international circuit. The team did well on the England tour winning the limited overs series and giving a good fight to both England Lions and West Indies A in First-Class matches.

During the tour, Indian batsmen had a very good time against the opposition bowlers and despite tough conditions and challenging pitches, the batsmen have done well. Rishabh Pant was rewarded with his Test debut on basis of his performance for India A and Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari also got into the Test squad for the final two Tests against England.

Keeping with that theme, Team COC chooses five batsmen who may potentially make their India debut in near future.  

5 batsmen who could make their India team debut in near future

Deepak Hooda

Baroda’s Deepak Hooda made a name for himself as a big hitting finisher for the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. He then moved onto Sunrisers Hyderabad and performed the same role for them as well.

Hooda has a very good record when it comes to the long form of domestic cricket as well. In 31 FC matches, Hooda has scored 2208 runs with a best of 293*and an average of 50.18 with 8 centuries and 8 fifties. However, his List A strike rate of 98.42 and a T20 strike rate of 140.04 has attracted the Indian selectors in choosing him for the limited overs India A teams.

He played a couple of cameos against England Lions and West Indies A in the List A tri-series and also picked some wickets with his off-breaks.

A definite contender for the finishing role in the limited overs format, Hooda can also unleash some brutal innings in the longer formats when given a chance and he was chosen in the Indian squad recently, but couldn’t make his international debut. With the World Cup 2019 just a year away, Indian team might try him out in coming matches at home.

Dhruv Shorey

Delhi’s Dhruv Shorey is a classical batsman with a copybook technique. Shorey is someone who will be an asset in times to come and recently scored a century against South Africa A for Indian President’s XI.

 Shorey has played 18 FC games and scored 1217 runs with 3 centuries and a best of 145 and average of 55.31. In 24 List A matches, Shorey made 700 runs with a best of 103*.  He had also scored a century in the finals of the 2017/18 Ranji Trophy against Vidarbha.

Shorey has a watertight technique and knows his game well to accelerate and bog down. He was also picked by the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2018 and got to play a game for the eventual champions. Shorey is in the ledgers of the Indian selectors who are looking for solid batsmen to solve their problem of no.4 in ODIs and middle order in Test matches.

Ishan Kishan

Jharkhand’s Ishan Kishan has already made himself a viable candidate for the Indian team based on both his batting and wicketkeeping. The former India U19 captain, who took the team to the finals of the 2016 World Cup, has graduated nicely into the senior domestic circuit.

Being left-handed comes as an advantage for Kishan and he has a good role model in state mate MS Dhoni to learn from. Kishan is an attacking batsman in any format, who has a good technique. He was bought by the Mumbai Indians in the 2018 IPL for INR 6.2 crores and asked to bat in the top order. Kishan gave them blazing starts at the top and ensured that MI was on course of defending their title.

Kishan so far has played 32 FC matches and scored 2097 runs with 4 centuries and a best of 273 against Delhi.

Mayank Agarwal

Mayank Agarwal form Karnataka had a bumper domestic season in which he scored buckets of runs in almost every format he played. He scored 1160 runs in 2017/18 Ranji Trophy and recently had scores of 151*, 112, 112 against England Lions and West Indies A in a limited overs series in England. He then showed his prowess in FC match against SA A, by scoring 220 in Bengaluru.

Agarwal is an attacking batsman who rarely misses an opportunity of scoring runs. In 42 FC matches, Agarwal has 3245 runs with a best of 304* and 8 centuries to his name. He averages 49.92. In 64 List A matches, he has 3131 runs with a best of 176 and averages 49.69 with 11 centuries. In 111 T20 matches, he has scored 2340 runs with the best of 111 at a strike rate of 130.79.

Agarwal’s exclusion from the Test team to England sparked intense debates on social media and with the selectors still playing the waiting game on him, his fans are pretty irked. Indian opening partnership in England only came good in the 3^rd Test at Nottingham, and selectors are still looking for some reliable openers and Agarwal should prove to be one of them.

Shubman Gill

Young Shubman Gill of Punjab impressed one and all with his tremendous performance in India U19’s 2018 Youth World Cup-winning campaign. Gill also impressed with his talent in the 2018 IPL playing for Kolkata Knight Riders.

Gill is an absolute delight to watch as a batsman and even at this young age, he has managed to score some big runs against some of the best bowlers on the tour to England. He scored 86, 58* and 72 amongst other scores in the List A tournament in England and 42 against South Africa A in Alur for India B.

Given India’s recent liking for blooding in young talents into senior teams like Kuldeep Yadav and Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill too can fancy his chances of making his India debut soon.