5 things India gained from the Ravi Shastri era

#3 Exciting young talent

Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah have been the finds of the season for the Indian team

During his stint as a commentator, Ravi Shastri often pitched for young talent. It was, therefore, no surprise that a lot of youngsters managed to break into the Indian team during his tenure as the director. The likes of Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Manish Pandey, Pawan Negi, KL Rahul and Barinder Sran got an opportunity to sport the Indian jersey with the former India all-rounder at the helm. This policy to invest in youth has paid rich dividends as India have unearthed some potential superstars who can take up the mantle of the Indian team from some of the aging stars.

KL Rahul has been impressive in his short career so far. In 4 tests, he has slammed 2 centuries. More importantly, his technique and application have impressed some of the most respected names in cricket. Manish Pandey, on the other hand, has earned accolades for a calm temperament and a wide array of strokes, two key requirements for cricket in colored clothing.

Ever since Kapil Dev’s retirement, India have been looking for a fast bowling all-rounder. Going by Hardik Pandya’s performances in his short career so far, it seems as if India may have found a solution to their all-rounder woes, at least in the shortest format of the game. Though Pandya is a far cry from being an all-rounder in the mold of Jacques Kallis, he has age on his side and can only improve with more experience.

Finally, coming to the brightest star in India’s new crop of cricketers, Jasprit Bumrah. He has solved one of India’s longest standing problems, death bowling. MS Dhoni finally has a bowler in his team who can dish out yorkers at will. And the stats prove it. In the recently concluded World T20, Bumrah bowled the third most number of yorkers in the tournament (15) while his economy rate in the death overs stood at a respectable 6.89. All in all, the BCCI needs to thank Ravi Shastri for blooding these youngsters as some of them do look very promising for the long run.