Now that the time is running like an Time Bomb clock, the three batting maestro of India (Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman) are all set to Adios Test Cricket in coming few years . Time has arrived that our Indian Think Tank should start giving more emphasis on the Indian bench strength; a lot has been already said on the replacement of the 3 batting exceptionals but the board is yet to find the right answer. Dravid and Laxman have already phased out from ODI cricket. Sachin also plays very less. It is good to see youngsters perform so well in the shorter format but I am more worried about Tests. We haven't seen anyone who can challenge these batting blizzards. Definitely, the time hasn't come to phase out seniors in Tests but still it’s the matter of worry. Everyone knows that it is not going to be easy to find replacements for the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman. It is going to be extremely difficult. But, youngsters, even though they might have failed in whatever chances they've got till now, have to be given another go. Fitness is a big issue growing up in the Indian dug-out. India already enjoyed the status of world No 1 Test side, thanks to their batting might. Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir followed by Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and M.S Dhoni, showcased India’s best batting line-up ever. The line-up had the skills to combat any opposition on any surface. The combined experience of the line-up helped India move from strength to strength and wrest the world No 1 spot. Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh could fashion victories for India abroad because of their batsmen putting huge totals on the board. Nothing can go on forever and the prospect of the current big three retiring in the near future is inevitable. Is India ready for the challenge? The answer is no; because of a variety of reasons. Dravid at the ripe age of 38 scored a century and Laxman taking all responsibility on his big shoulders in almost every match has easily proved that, there is no substitute for experience. Only if you perform consistently one gets ‘time’ to play for a decade or so. Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman Ganguly grew up watching Tests which was the ultimate form of the game. So you had a Dravid or Tendulkar, who wanted to be a Sunil Gavaskar and develop a sound technique.Since the three played a vital role in building team’s status it is hard to think of three batting contemporaries who have had such an impact on a nation's cricket fortunes as India's middle order. As they took guard in England for the last time as a group, they remain a fascinating study in contrasts. Tendulkar was the omen who took the elevator while the others climbed the stairs, to rephrase a lovely Vinod Kambli quote about the man he once shared a world-record partnership with. By the time Dravid and Sourav Ganguly made their debuts at Lord's in the summer of 1996, he had played 39 Tests, scoring nine centuries along the way. Born within two years of each other, Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman belonged to the 1983 generation. With John Wright as coach and Ganguly as captain, India started to hold their own in alien conditions. Victory in Pakistan for the first time (in 2004) was the pinnacle of that era, but once Wright gave away to Greg Chappell, the scenario changed. Ganguly was dropped, Laxman's crafty knees were held against him and while Tendulkar struggled with a shoulder problem that eventually needed surgery, Dravid's form dipped with the cares of captaincy. On the tour of England in 2007, there were no hundreds, even though Ganguly and Laxman averaged 50. Dravid managed just 126 runs, while Tendulkar departed with two half-centuries. Few imagined that they would be back. While they have not yet revealed an exit plan, it is fairly certain that cricket lovers in England will not see them playing together again. With more than 35,000 Test runs and 99 centuries between them, they have helped define Indian cricket's most successful era. Before ending this paper, I would like conclude this on a higher note; the three replacements that I see in the coming future are Virat, Yuvraj and Rohit. I know it’s bit too early to say that but soon we need to pull out of this before we ends up in below five or six in the rankings. Team Management should look more on making these three play Test Cricket, so that they could at least make it to a stage where they can be ranked somewhere in near with the likes of the Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman.
