6 players who make India's bench incredibly strong

The Indian cricket team under Virat Kohli looks like a formidable unit. The team has been in great form over the last three years, and they have put in some memorable performances.

India's real test were the overseas tours to South Africa, England and Australia in 2018. They looked competent in South Africa and England, even though the scoreline says otherwise. And then they overcame their shortcomings on the tour of Australia to register a memorable series win, becoming the first Asian team to win in Australia in 71 years.

One of India's secrets in these performances is the bench strength and the constant supply line that the team has. India has a very robust first-class structure, and the U-19 and India-A teams are looked after by none other than the legend Rahul Dravid himself.

Whether it was a home series or an away series, in recent times India have had players who could replace anyone at any given point of time. The replacements who came in produced terrific performances, which added to more selection headaches.

Here, let's look into India's bench strength and the quality it possesses, which makes India a formidable force in world cricket.

5. KL Rahul

KL Rahul

Not so long ago, KL Rahul was considered India's all-format batsman. Rahul scored his debut hundred at the famous Sydney Cricket Ground, and also notched up a few hundreds against West Indies, Sri Lanka and England.

His performances against Australia during the 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy won him a lot of fans. But just when things started looking bright for India during their overseas season, things started going downhill for Rahul.

Rahul started the South African tour with high hopes but was found wanting against the new ball. He was frequently troubled by pace and bounce and couldn't make any sizable contribution in South Africa.

He continued to struggle in England and Australia, even though he scored a classy 149 at The Oval against England.

As of now, Rahul had lost his spot to Mayank Agarwal and Prthivi Shaw. If he overcomes his shortcomings, he will be a success story in international cricket, something India would love to have as a selection headache.

Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya is a rare breed in Indian cricket. He came at a time when Indian cricket was in search of a seam-bowling all-rounder, and immediately drew comparisons with the legendary Kapil Dev for his skills as an all-rounder.

Pandya made his Test debut against Sri Lanka and scored a Test century in his third match where he famously hit Sri Lankan spinner Malinda Pushpakumara for 26 in an over.

Pandya continued his excellent form as he scored a belligerent 93 against a quality South African attack on a spicy Cape Town wicket. However, his performances started going downhill after that, and he failed to convert his starts in the remaining matches.

A lot was expected from him in England, but after failing to make a sizable contribution in the first two matches he played a starring role in the third Test at Nottingham where he picked up his first ever five-for followed by a fifty in the second innings.

Pandya is an attacking batsman who can make a mockery of the spinners. He is also an electrifying fielder who can bring the all-important balance to the side. If he keeps working on his game, he can be a vital cog in India's Test side.

Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav is easily the quickest amongst India's bowlers and likes to hurry the batsmen. He is a workhorse who is the fittest among all of India's bowlers.

Umesh burst onto the scene during India's disastrous tour of Australia in 2011-12 where he picked up five wickets in the second innings at MCG. He was considered as someone who had pace but lacked direction.

Over the years, Umesh has become more consistent and bowls sharp spells in short bursts. What may come as a surprise to many is that his record in the sub-continent is better than his record overseas.

Umesh has troubled the batsmen with the old ball and has had a lot of success on flat pitches. He has had astounding success under Virat Kohli's captaincy, as the skipper has always backed him.

Umesh is not the first choice option for India in overseas conditions. However, he is someone who is always on the fringes and comes in whenever India needs that extra pace option.

Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav is one of the few Chinaman bowlers who has played Test cricket. He is very skillful and has bamboozled a lot of batsmen in white ball cricket.

Kuldeep is the first bowler ever to pick five-fors in all the three formats of international cricket. He has not played too many matches, but the limited sample space has given enough proof that he will be quite a handful in Test cricket.

Kuldeep made his debut against Australia in 2017 on a batting friendly Dharamsala wicket when the series was on the line. He ran through the Aussies in the second session, picking up four wickets in his first ever international outing.

He continued to impress after that as he picked up wickets against Sri Lanka, where the Lankan batsmen were all at sea against the Indian spinners.

Kuldeep has picked up two five-fors, but the one against Australia in Sydney was a masterclass. Once he gains more international experience, he could well become the leading world spinner in the years to come.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is undoubtedly one of the most talented swing bowlers going around in world cricket. He is deadly on green seaming wickets as he can swing the ball both ways and hardly misses his length.

Bhuvneshwar is known for his pinpoint accuracy; he seldom delivers a bad ball. He used to be India's pace spearhead who has done well in all conditions and bowls consistently over 135 kph, occasionally touching 140 kph.

Bhuvneshwar burst on to the scene in the 2013 Border-Gavaskar Trophy where he bowled tight spells with the new ball. He came into his own when he bowled magical spells in the first two Test matches in England; he picked up a six-for at Lords and contributed with the bat as well.

He also starred with the ball against New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Kolkata in the 2016/17 season.

Bhuvi bowled exceptionally well in the South Africa series in 2018 and contributed with the bat with some useful lower order runs. He was dearly missed in the recent Test series in England and could have made the difference between winning and losing.

Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma is arguably the best opener in white-ball world cricket. He has scored three double hundreds when many batsmen struggle to score one.

Rohit also had a dream start to his Test career when he scored 177 and 111 in his first two innings. Those performances ignited the hopes of many Indian fans who felt he would be a perfect fit for the modern day Fab Four in Indian cricket which included Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane.

But Rohit's first overseas sojourn turned into a nightmare as he struggled against the moving ball, as well as the pace and bounce. All he could manage was a fifty each in New Zealand, England and Australia.

He was later brought back into the Test squad and he did reasonably well in India's home season against New Zealand and Sri Lanka. He has now vastly improved his overseas performances, if the way he played in Australia recently is anything to go by. However, he has not been successful in delivering the killer blow to the opposition.

If Rohit sorts out his red ball game, India will feel blessed to have someone on the bench who is an all-weather batsman and can perform anywhere in the world.