End of an era or the beginning of a new one?

New Zealand showed some spunk, especially in the second test, but India, as per the expectations, whitewashed the two match series. But instead of glossing over India’s return to winning ways in the longer format of the game, the test cricket connoisseurs chose to mourn over the fact that the familiar names of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman won’t be featuring in the Indian line up any more. After all, the solid technique and wristy elegance of the duo, which was worth a massive 22069 runs and their safe pair of hands in the slips had played a big role in taking India to the coveted number one position.

But what they fail to celebrate is the new dawn on the horizon. Many summers ago, in 1996, India had a similar vacuum in the middle order but Dravid and Sourav Ganguly made memorable debuts in the Lord’s test to announce their arrival. Later in the year, Laxman also made his test debut against South Africa and then for the next decade and a half, along with Sachin Tendulkar, they formed arguably one of the strongest middle order in test cricket.

With the Indian team at similar crossroads, centuries by Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli at Hyderabad and Bangalore respectively gave the fans a glimpse of what the future Indian middle order might look like. Though the challenge posed by the current Kiwi attack in Indian conditions is nowhere near what the English conditions or the potent South African attack of ’96 posed, but it is still worth having a look at the promise the youngsters hold.

Comparing Pujara with Dravid at this point of time will be grossly unfair to both men but one couldn’t help but draw parallels. The attack he faced is nowhere near the best in the business but his temperament and composure during the innings was commendable. What was also refreshing to note was that the youngster is prepared to go through the grind and considers the five day game his top priority.

For Kohli, the going has been much more tougher in the longer version but the way he has established himself in the 50 over format, it’s just a matter of time before he stamps his authority in test cricket as well. His performance in the second innings at Bangalore confirmed his growing stature as the go-to man in high pressure run chases and very few bet against him being the next big thing for Indian cricket.

Suresh Raina is another youngster who is indispensable in the limited overs format but despite scoring a hundred on debut, his test career has seen more road blocks. His technique against the short pitched stuff and temperament in the five day format in still not up to the mark and after his wild swipe today, he may have to spend some time out of the team. But his work ethics is unquestionable and despite the shortcomings, the spirited left hander has every chance of bouncing back.

Then there are the likes of Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma. Both the Mumbaikars are yet to make their test debut but their showings in the domestic circuit and IPL suggest that there is no dearth of talent in them. All they have to do is channel their energies in the right direction and combine talent with hard work to produce the desired results.

With home series against England and Australia later in the season and a tough away tour of South Africa coming up in 2013, the tests will only get sterner from here on and there is still a long way to go before the youngsters can stake a claim to be worthy successors of the famed quartet.

But the attitude and spark shown by them on the field and their batting display in the limited opportunities has been commendable. May be it’s too early but certainly not wishful thinking to assume that in five years time, India will have another set of middle order batsmen, firmly on their way to greatness.