Who after Sachin Tendulkar? The search for the next number four

Suresh Raina: Most of you would be surprised seeing his name ahead of Rohit Sharma’s name in this list. But, to be fair to him, Raina has made more of the chances given to him that Rohit has over the years – a one-off century on a listless ODI pitch is far from proving a lot about yourself.

It is true that most of his successes have been in limited overs cricket. It is true that he has been found wanting against the short ball more than once – something he would have to prepare himself for if given a chance to go to South Africa. But Raina has often bounced back when his critics were least expecting it.

After an aborted start to his international career at the age of 19, Raina came back into the team in 2008 and established himself as a key lynchpin in the middle order. Two years later, he was captaining the team in Zimbabwe in the absence of MS Dhoni – soon after becoming the first Indian to score a century in a T20 international. The same year he got a chance to make his Test debut after playing close to 100 ODIs – a record which has since been taken over by Rohit Sharma. He made the best of the opportunity by scoring 120 against Sri Lanka in their backyard.

In the 2011 World Cup, India had to choose one from Virat Kohli (not yet a superstar) and Yusuf Pathan (fresh from his belligerent heroics in South Africa) and they ended up dropping Raina for the league phase matches. After Yusuf’s continued failure, they got Raina back for the quarter-finals against Australia where he made an immediate impact.

Since then though, the script has unravelled. The vice-captain‘s cap has been passed over to Virat Kohli – in a twist of fate, Raina played under Kohli in the recent Zimbabwe series. It was Kohli again who took up Raina’s Number Six slot in the Test match lineup in Australia after a horror tour of England. Laxman’s retirement provided a foot in the door for Raina but Yuvraj Singh’s emotional return to the Indian team followed by Ravindra Jadeja’s resurgence as a bowling all-rounder slammed the door back on his face.

But, like Dinesh Karthik, Raina has always grabbed an opportunity by the scruff of its neck given a chance. Again like Karthik, his sole fault has been to let it slip away too soon. This time might be his best (and last) chance – he should be prepared to hold on even with the skin of his teeth.

Notable mentions

Ajinkya Rahane: Had to wait long for his Test debut but could not make much of it when it came in the fourth Test against Australia in the wake of Shikhar Dhawan’s injury. Has done enough though otherwise to warrant a second try.

Subramaniam Badrinath: A long time servant and stalwart of Indian domestic cricket, Badri has got his chances but hasn’t been able to make the most of it. At 33, a recall seems unlikely unless the selectors give his experience some extra points.

Manoj Tiwary: Like Rahane, another sufferer of the selectors’ Rohit Sharma syndrome as well as extreme cases of ill-fortune. Has an ODI century and a four wicket haul in the clutch of ODIs played over the last couple of years or so but yet to be considered for greater honours.

M S Dhoni: A left-field decision which could turn out to be brilliant in hind-sight. Dhoni himself might not been too keen to the fact given his wicket-keeping and captaincy duties. Also leaves the selectors with the burden of finding a suitable Number Six/Seven.

Rohit Sharma: The selectors’ favourite. Currently experiencing a second wind in his ODI career but is he good enough for a Test match call-up in South Africa?