How the present Indian team is a mixture of different generations
Post India's thumping 203-run win over England at Trent Bridge, the selection panel for the senior Indian team announced maiden call-ups for Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari, both prolific run-getters in India 'A' cricket were drafted into the side in place of Murali Vijay and Kuldeep Yadav.
Apart from fresh legs coming into the setup, the decision has one deeper revelation from the players who feature in the squad.
It reflects the depth of India's junior cricket and steady yet very applaudable progress it has made from the early 2000s to 2018. One look at the transition from the Under-19 World Cup perspective and a clearer image is formed.
In Shikhar Dhawan and Dinesh Karthik, the side has two players from the 2004 edition of the competition. In Cheteshwar Pujara, a player from the 2006 edition. Virat Kohli. 2008 edition. Ravindra Jadeja. 2006 and 2008 edition. KL Rahul. 2010 edition. Hanuma Vihari. 2012 edition. Rishabh Pant. 2016 edition. Prithvi Shaw. 2018 edition.
The domestic debuts of players range from 2002 when Karthik came onto the scene until Shaw, who debuted in 2016. It really shows how quickly generations in Indian cricket climb the ladder and make it into the big league and also is indicative of two different generations of Indian cricket from players who played with the Fab 5 to those who are trying to create a new legacy under Kohli.
Take the case of Shaw. When he first hogged the limelight for making 546 runs on his own in 2013, the likes of Dhawan, Kohli and others had already started to form the fulcrum of the limited-overs setup.
Now, there is a possibility that the Mumbai youngster might debut along with them in either of the next two Tests and if that does turn out to be the case, then you could possibly the most diverse Indian playing XI, in terms of eras, in a very long time.