In onedayer stock india having Suresh Raina,Rohit Sharma,they may select the above because they are having international exposure other than Badrinath/Murali Vijay.India has no stock like austrailia/SA as separate player for test and one dayer.These players to be taken pemanentally after one year and so,that they can fill inevitable loss of our great player

Nice article. But why would the Indian selectors be thinking of replacing players who are in such fine form? Yes these guys cannot carry on forever but until and unless there is a significant drop in form, why should the selectors even contemplate replacements?

Sachin, Rahul & laxman should stay as along as they can. In the meantime we need to have a good backup. Was wondering why BCCI is ignoring Dinesh Karthik. He has proved himself time & again. HE can bat & keep wickets. Guessing Dhoni is a bit insecure with his place in the team as wicket keeper. They have given Badri a go in the SA series but it should have been Karthik. HE did well in domestic cricket. He did well in the last england tour.Common give him a break. He can be the AB Devilliers of India team.

Even the void created by Gannguly is not filled up. Yuvraj is not upto the mark at Test level. So, this back-up creation will be a slow process. We have Murali/Badrinath/Rohit/Raina/Pujara who are knocking the doors at test level and are making Yuvraj's life miserable.
At this point of time, it is more important for India to find quality spinners rather than replacement for Rahul and VVSL (Nobody can replace Sachin).

I think time has come when a player like Dravid will take decesion at any moment regarding his retirement. I am a bit more confident about little master that he will preserve his postion in the team as number four batsman for the next atleast one and half or two years. Why should Sachin retire that is a question. See in the last four matches he has hit four centuries. This is a kind of dream for many youngsters even and still Sachin is managing to perform so well at his age. He is running 37. He is still scoring at the same strike rate as he was used to in the past. I will remain in the team for a long time only and only due to his abilities not because he is a legend in the team and selectors will have to dare droping hims. He himself knows when to retire. Laxman will also stay in the team for atleast two more years and he should. No effect on his batting yet. But one thing is sure that Sachin will try to announce retirement immediately after a match in which he will score a ton.

Veerat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, and new other players who will be the outcomes of the next IPL should get as much attention as possible in the process of building a new team with extra ordinary talents. There would defentalely be great difficulties in replacing players those calibers like Sachin, Dravid, Laxman. In fact seems nearly impossible to fill the places with such players. I would be again a great coincidence if we get such 3 or 4 players at a team in the next team. Even I would say it will be more interesting to see weather can get player like Virendra Sehwag. Very very very difficult. You will get hitters. But Veeru hits consistently. Consistent hitters were and are very few. Adam Gilchrist, Sir Richards are a few major names to take. Players like Dravid's caliber are desperate to see players on the other side who can move the score fast and firm. It is kind of support a wall like Dravid needs. Otherwise we will see only and only drawn matches. Find strikeres too.

I agree with Vikram that Yuvraj hasn't quite fitted into Ganguly's shoes. Though there's no doubt that he is one of the finest one day/ T 20 players around, he hasn't quite showed the same potential in tests, even though he has been given a pretty long rope by the selectors. Raina also does not have a domestic record to back him, which Badri and Vijay do. Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have been doing well in the Ranji ciecuit for a couple of seasons, and if anyone watched the Ranji final this time, Manish Pandey looks an exciting prospect.

I have to disagree with you about Flintoff - I would have had him in my World XI side for both tests and ODIs as a specialist bowler, with his batting a useful bonus. His speed and bounce made him one of the most intimidating bowlers in the game, and when you add swing and a huge heart into it, he's an obvious choice.

It's so disappointing that such a great player's career was cut short by injury... just like Shane Bond.

Hi All,
I think we do have good stock of players like Virat Kohali,Rohit Sharma, Manish Pandey,Pujara,Dinesh Karthik,Suresh Raina (in test only if he work out his inability to play shortpitch stuff),Badrinath , M Vijay to take over..It is just a matter of confidence...In Test i am sure that Rohit, Pujara , Kohli & Manish Pandey will fill in the slots once they start getting their opportunity. Also how they are groomed is going to be very important.It is a time now for selectors to start considering them atleast for home series .....give them atleast few test under their belt to build their confidence before Sachin , Laxman or Dravid retires .... one of the two Laxman & Dravid can play alternately....

considering how the English were outplayed in all but one test, I would say they missed Flintoff. The Aussies stuttered a bit with the loss of some legends, but look at them now. It is time for SA to use some good sense and drop JP and let Prince bat where his average is 50-60. No one player is above the game. But hen there is also no use dropping players for the sake of it. Look at the talk about dropping Boucher before the England tour- and who played well?

[Mike: If Flintoff had played, Bell would not have, and then England would not have won the Test they did. England's weakness was in the batting, and Flintoff's form with the bat over the previous two years was poor enough that he would simply have exacerbated the problem.]

I think Sachin is in form of life. And more importantly, selectors have already started thinking about future by including Vijay, Raina in squad. Some too good players like Pujara, Nayar are performing well in domestic cricket. Too me at least, the scene looks optimistic.
I see no reason why someone would want to drop Sachin, Rahul given their current form. Too sceptical, ain't it?. Flintoff was not in good form with bat, forget about the injuries.

The least the BCCI and the selectors can do for Dravid, Laxman & Tendulkar for the great contribution they have made is not to insult them by dropping them one fine day (like they dropped Dravid so unceremoniously), but let them continue as long as they are contributing; but with one caveat...each of them would be responsible to mentor and develop one or two players to take their place. Once their wards are ready to take over, a class act like Dravid would step down himself in the interest of the country and the future of Indian Cricket. But even when any of this holy trinity of Indian cricket has to leave, it should happen with dignity, decorum, and respect through a mutually agreed process between them and BCCI/Selectors

We have the usual ignorant clique seeking Dravid's retirement. Prejudice and ignorance are a dangerous combination. Add sentimentality (like Sachin should never retire) and you have fans who are passionate, but know precious little about Test cricket.

First of all i would love to say if someone want to know whats Patience can achieve just observe dravid statistics......What is Commitment,just see VVS Laxman.well i really respect this man...he nver played world cup but the way he is professional and the way he manages 4 or 5 matches in a year..Superb......well i will nt say anyting for master blaster.........Sachin paa ji..wht can i say is 20 years still he is hungry for runs......but its part of life as well as in cricket that we have to move on ...i feel after 1 or 1.5 year these people will retire till then BCCi have to make test players like Raina,dinesh karthik really deserve to b there,murli vijay n one guy which i feel can b huge investment if he n board pay attention towards him.Mainsh pandey...see no1 can replace sachin paaji..but sumwhere dravid n vvs can be replaced by murli,karthik,raina,dinesh karthik n Manish Pandey......Hope u guysalso agree with me......mail me if sum1 wanna discuus
abhishekmehta1712@gmail.com.

I don't think Flintoff would have made a big difference. Given England's "here and there" form, the ECB needs to actively find solid talent for their lineup. Flintoff would have injured himself again, given the ECB more selection headaches and slowed down an otherwise important process. Its better the way it is.

There are some cool-headed Indian fans who know their Test cricket like that groundsman who prepared that Kolkata pitch for the 2nd Test between India and South Africa. But, yes, quite a "bit" of them are sentimental about their Cricket players. Nothing wrong with such passion as long as the Indian selectors don't get carried away with that same mentality...and the selectors showed that in the way they picked up and later dropped Dravid from the ODI side last year.

Last year, I remember fans chanting Raina's name during a game in NZ and later during a match against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy. So India has a decent chance of replacing the big 3...a decent chance...

@ Abhishek Mehta

How is discussing this matter with you going to help anybody with anything? You're not the selector nor do you have any influence on the Board. So stop trying to feel important.

I think we will just have to accept the fact that India's batting will simply not be as strong as it is once the Big Three retire. Look at how the Windies are still struggling to replace their pace attack even after 12 years.

I think we should just enjoy our stay at the top while it lasts, as in two years, this will not be the same. I for one, will marry an Australian, move to Sydney, and cheer for whoever picks up Ponting's scraps, maybe Clark.

Sachin could play until he is 50 years old and he would still be one of the best in the world because he is that good. As long as Dravid and Laxman look after themselves I don't see why they can't carry on for at least 5 years.

Like all other countries, India will take a dip in performance and miss these good players. When australia lost Hayden, Langer, Martin, Gilcrist, Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, and Glen Mcgrath, they suffered a few losses but have bounced back stronger then before. Lot of youngsters will standup to the expectation. These players were youngsters when they replaced Gavaskar, Vishwanath and vengsarkar.

Like all other countries, India will take a dip in performance and miss these good players. When australia lost Hayden, Langer, Martin, Gilcrist, Shane Warne, Steve Waugh, and Glen Mcgrath, they suffered a few losses but have bounced back stronger then before. Lot of youngsters will standup to the expectation. These players were youngsters when they replaced Gavaskar, Vishwanath and vengsarkar.

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