"The major weight of the Indian batting line-up has been shouldered by the youngsters" - Inzamam ul Haq
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has praised the young Indian batters for their contribution to the side's victories over the last couple of years. He pointed out that the weight of the Indian batting unit has been carried by the youngsters as the senior players hit a difficult patch of form.
The Indian side have seen the emergence of an impressive crop of young batters in the longest format. Players like Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill and Hanuma Vihari have made a case for themselves at the highest level.
Speaking on his YouTube channel The Match Winner, Inzamam-ul-Haq said India's overseas victories in the last two years have to be attributed to the coming of age of the young batters in the side.
“The major weight of the Indian batting line-up has been shouldered by the youngsters during the last couple of years. KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and even Ravindra Jadeja has scored runs in the middle-order whenever the situation arose. They have taken on the responsibility of the Indian batting. The Indian victories overseas have to be attributed to the contribution from these youngsters,” Inzamam-ul-Haq said.
Rishabh Pant played a couple of significant knocks on India's tour of Australia. Ravindra Jadeja has rediscovered himself as a capable batter in addition to his abilities with the ball and in the field. KL Rahul has also been impressive in the ongoing series against England.
India's three main players have not performed in the last 18-20 months, says Inzamam-ul-Haq
Inzamam ul Haq also delved in on the poor run of form of India's three batting mainstays. Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane have struggled to score sizeably in the last two years other than the one-off performances here and there.
The former Pakistan batter believes India will be a much stronger side if this trio rediscover their mojo.
“During the 18-20 months from 2019 to 2021, the three main players of India have not performed. Pujara hasn’t scored a ton during these 20 months. Ajinkya Rahane has not performed well. He hasn’t even averaged 20 during 2021. There is no doubt that Virat Kohli is a great player. People consider him as the no.1 player. Even he doesn’t have a century in this period. When even these players start to perform, this team would become even stronger,” Inzamam-ul-Haq added.
The three batters have just one century to show between them since the beginning of 2020. All three have averaged in the mid 20s during this period, which is much lower than their career averages.