"We might get a new Rahul Dravid or Sourav Ganguly after England tour": Pravin Amre

Shubman Gill (left) and Yashasvi Jaiswal during their 53-run stand on Day One of the third Test against NZ at Wankhede last November. Pic/AFP

When the Indian team embarks on their five-Test campaign against England at Leeds on June 20, it will also be a beginning of a new era in India's Test batting line-up. Given the Test retirements of skipper Rohit Sharma and the legendary Virat Kohli, head coach Gautam Gambhir will have to depend on relative newcomers who will be put to the toughest test in swinging English conditions.

Tough test beckons

Former Test cricketers Wasim Jaffer, Pravin Amre and Nilesh Kulkarni, however, feel that though this is a challenge, India's young brigade can ace the acid test in Old Blighty. "You cannot buy experience in any supermarket. Both [Kohli and Rohit] are very experienced, but having said that, we have to move on. Yes, this [England tour] will be an acid test for the newcomers or the relatively inexperienced India players because England has always been a challenging place to tour, but this is also a brilliant opportunity for our new batters to show what they are capable of," Amre, 56, who played 11 11 Tests, told mid-day on Thursday.

In fact, the former top-order batter felt that some new star players may emerge from India at the end of this tour.

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Wasim Jaffer, Pravin Aamre and Nilesh Kulkarnia

"We have to be practical. We should not expect too much from them [newcomers] straightaway. We must give them time to settle in the team. If we do well immediately, it's great, otherwise, we must have patience. But who knows, we might get a [new] Rahul Dravid or a Sourav Ganguly [after England tour] here," added Amre.

Former India opener Jaffer, 47, a 31-Test veteran, echoed Amre's sentiments. "The Indian batting actually hasn't fired for a long time. Even with Virat or even with Rohit, we haven't fired. So, I think while this tour at the start of English summer won't be easy, the new guys should look forward to the challenge," said Jaffer, adding that India's success will depend a lot on their opening batters. "If the openers give you a good start, it's always handy, particularly in England because you don't want to expose the middle-order to the new ball. In England, they use the Dukes ball, which is pretty similar to the SG ball we use here, and it swings a lot. In fact, the Dukes ball keeps swinging even after 30-40 overs. So, you would want your openers to do well and ensure they take that shine off the ball. And if they can do that, I believe the rest of the batting line-up can strike," explained Jaffer, who scored two back-to-back half-centuries at Lord's and Nottingham during India's 2007 tour.

Jaffer shared the success mantra for batters in England: "Spending time at the wicket is very crucial. You need to tire out their bowlers. You need to make them bowl three, four spells, and then capitalise when the conditions get better for batting. So, you have to play through both scenarios. The first is initially when the ball is swinging around and the conditions are a little difficult. You have to survive. Then, later, when the sun comes out, England is a beautiful place to bat, so you need to wait for that moment and then take advantage of it."

Burden on Jadeja

In the bowling department, former India left-arm spinner, Kulkarni, 52, felt the team's most experienced player, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (80 Tests) must shoulder more responsibility. "After [off-spinner] R Ashwin's retirement, Jadeja is India's most experienced spinner in red-ball cricket so he will have to take on that extra burden. In the fast bowling department, we have the likes of [Jasprit] Bumrah, [Mohammed] Shami, [Mohammed] Siraj and even Harshit Rana, so we are capable of picking 20 wickets, provided our batsmen post a good total on the board," concluded Kulkarni.

88
No. of runs scored by Shubman Gill in three Tests in England at an average of just 14.66