Why is a debut the most cherished moment for any cricketer
If you ask any person who had ever been successful in their respective careers to look back and reflect on their key moments, more often than not, you find them mention about how they got their first opportunity. Debut in cricket is nothing less.
It was something that you dreamt of every day since you decided to become a professional cricketer. You dreamt of it, you struggled for it, you put in efforts and generated memorable performances over a period of time and then - one day you get a call saying that you were picked to play for the national side.
Those are the moments that you cherish all your life.
Earning a call for a national side, especially in a country like India, where there are thousands of youngsters, who are extremely talented, hardworking and proved their mettle time and again in domestic circuit, is not an easy task.
There is something more than just your performances that matter - at the end of the day, the selectors can only pick 15 players for a series.
You got to get your performances at the right time and at the right platforms. Amol Mazumdar is an extreme example of talent who scored loads of runs in domestic circuit but could never make it to the international circuit.
You also need to keep your fitness in the watch - Manoj Tiwary after all the efforts at the domestic circuit in 2006-07 missed out on an opportunity to make a debut when India toured Bangladesh. He was lucky enough to be there again among the mix, but it will never be the same again.
Once you get picked and lucky enough to get into the playing XI, it is always about your character. There you are after many runs scored, many wickets taken, over multiple domestic seasons, you walk for the first time on the field and then there are nerves. You want to prove the world that what your worth is, but then reality hits you.
KL Rahul was regarded as one of the best batsmen in the domestic circuit, on his debut during Dec 2014 against Australia, his nerves took over and played two rash shots. Then there are other breeds of players, who get that going brilliantly - the dream debutants.
Shikhar Dhawan got an opportunity to play against Australia in Mohali in March 2013 and what he did was something magnificent.
Irrespective of the criticism, IPL has received over the years for the brand of cricket that is being played, there is no doubt to mention it gave the youngsters an opportunity to display some of their talent and nerves.
A generation old cricketers will tell you the limited opportunities that they had to prove their talent - but with IPL, the new age cricketers had the fans talking about them. It is not a positive change that IPL has brought to Indian cricket.
So, a lot takes for someone to get that call into the national side and then to hang on to it - Performances, timing, fitness and nerves.
Two such players, who did very well in the domestic circuit, are going to be rewarded in the coming series against South Africa. If everything goes well, Gurukeerat Man Singh could receive his ODI cap as the 207th player to play for India and Sreenath Aravind could receive his T20I cap as the 56th player.
Here is a quick look at the number of debuts that were handed over in the past 10 years for India across the formats:
| Year | Tests | ODIs | T20Is |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2006 | 5 | 4 | 11 |
| 2007 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 2008 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| 2009 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 2010 | 6 | 11 | 7 |
| 2011 | 6 | 3 | 7 |
| 2012 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 2013 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 2014 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| 2015 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Total | 35 | 48 | 55 |
Indian domestic season starts on 1st October 2015 with Ranji Trophy. There will be many youngsters who would put their best performances and their hearts out to win their dream. Hope we could find the talent that fits the bill for Indian cricket to prosper in the years to come.