Youngsters to the fore

With the stars failing to sparkle, the youngsters came to the fore. Skipper Sourav Ganguly was missing, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid could not really get going, yet, India romped home against Zimbabwe at Rajkot.

Hemang Badani's mature innings revealed once again that when the chips are down, this Chennai lad is at his best, always a good sign in a youngster.

He played nice and straight and got his runs with authentic strokes.The stylish left-hander also kept the scoreboard moving, seldom getting pegged back.

Badani's elegant strokeplay coupled with his sound temperament means he would be a good choice in the country's Test eleven also, as a solid middle-order batsman.

Ajit Agarkar's breath-taking strokeplay in the latter stages of the innings, where he destroyed the Zimbabwe bowling, showed if the Mumbai cricketer was willing to believe in his own ability, he could be a very handy all-rounder indeed.

Having seen Agarkar in his formative years, as the India `A' coach, one had always felt that there was genuine all-round ability in him, but then the Mumbai cricketer has not always done justice to his talent. A fact which is reflected in the number of `soft' dismissals he has been involved in.

In Rajkot though, he was at his very best with the bat, and bowled quite beautifully as well. Mentally, Agarkar should look at himself as an all-rounder and not a bowler who can bat a bit.

Another young cricketer to make an impression was Reetinder Singh Sodhi. Under pressure to keep his place, not really making an impact in the earlier games, the Sardar did his cause no harm, coming good with, both, the bat and the ball.

Now, Sodhi had to wait quite long before receiving the National call, and knowing the value of an India cap, was in no mood to surrender it without a fight.

And, with men like Badani and Reetinder around, the Indian fielding too has gone up a few notches.

Zimbabwe did not really have a chance, chasing a target in excess of 300, and when Andy Flower fell early, the door was shut on them.

www.krishsrikkanth.com

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