5 young openers who can be long-term replacements for Shikhar Dhawan in the Indian XI

Opener Shikhar Dhawan has been in a constant strife to cement his place in the Indian XI for the past two years. After a tremendous run of form enjoyed in the year 2013, it has become cliched among bowling units to point out Dhawan’s weakness, and this is reflected in the record books – his 126 vs Australia in January, despite having bought him some time, is only his 4th ODI century in twenty six months.With age not on his side, it is time that the Indian selectors look beyond the 30-year-old left-hander from Delhi for a long-term successor in the Indian playing XI. The Delhi opener has been struggling of late to find a balance between his brisk scoring rate and his attempts to not give his wicket away cheaply.There are quite a few young, high-performing, headline-grabbing opening batsmen plying their trade in the Indian domestic circuit. These batsmen, though younger than Dhawan, can hit the ball as cleanly as he can on a good day, and they have not had their weakness exposed as cruelly either.

#1 Shreyas Iyer

If there is one man who has been the star of the 2015/16 Indian domestic season, it has to be Mumbai’s Shreyas Iyer. Inexperience is possibly the only reason why the 21-year-old has not been called up to the India team yet, but his astounding records over the season have made many fans question why he is still not in the team.

Iyer scored 1321 runs in the Ranji season, missing VVS Laxman’s all-time record for most runs scored in a season by 95 runs. Had Saurashtra been able to avoid an innings defeat in the final, Iyer would have got a chance to bat again and breach the great mark, but that was not to be.

Iyer first came to the limelight as a Delhi Daredevils youngster. In the 2015 IPL, which turned out to be a disastrous campaign for DD, Iyer was the one bright spot. Mumbai Indians wanted to acquire the services of their local boy for the 2016 IPL, but DD understandably rejected this offer for who is currently the hottest property in terms of investment in Indian cricket.

What is special about Iyer, other than the insane amount of runs he accumulates, is the speed with which he gets them. Dhawan was compared to Virender Sehwag when he first came into the Test side, but time showed that this was a hastily made comparison.

Iyer, who has a strike rate of 84 in first class cricket, 95 in List A cricket, and 132 in T20s, is someone who is clearly deserving of the tag – ‘India’s next Sehwag’.

​