She began her career as a fast bowler who batted low down in the order. Tall, lithe and with a bounce in her step, Anjum Chopra bowls her mediumpacers with fizz. However, in the very first international she played, her batting skills were tested. Coming in to bat low down in the order, she managed to remain unbeaten as her vice captain scored the winnings runs. [More]

Hemang Badani is a compact looking batsman who promises to be a long-term player for India on the international scene. It is not a particularly congenial moment for a middle order batsman to press his claim for an India cap because of a surfeit of talent at the domestic level. By dint of perseverance, Badani has forced his way into the squad and will be mindful of grabbing every little opportunity he gets to display his not inconsiderable talents. [More]

Murali Kartik's stunning bowling in the Irani Trophy in October signals a second coming for the immensely gifted left arm spinner. For the last couple of years or more, Kartik has been marked out by observers as an outstanding Test prospect. He broke into first class cricket with a flourish, taking ten wickets, including a hat-trick, in his debut season for Railways against Vidarbha in 1996-97. Ever since, this protege of Bishen Bedi has been hovering on the fringes like a vulture homing in for the big prize. [More]

With India facing a sustained scarcity of capable opening batsmen at Test level,Shiv Sunder Das could be just the man to fill the yawning gap at the top of the order. Blessed with an excellent temperament, the Orissa opener focuses on keeping the game simple, prodding the scoreboard through an array of sound cricketing shots without trying to be flashy. A former India Under 17 captain, Das has journeyed through the ranks of junior level cricket with distinction. [More]

The National Selection Committee may not have found any off spinner worthy of being included in the 23 probables for the ICC KnockOut tournament but the cupboard is by no means bare. Five of the top ten wicket takers in the Ranji Trophy last season were all practitioners of this trade. One of them is Punjab youngster Sharandeep Singh who will complete 21 on October 21. The lad from Amritsar scalped 37 victims at 19.43 in just his second season in first class cricket. [More]

A player now known for his batting skills and penchant for tall scores, Sriram started his career as a slow left arm spinner. It has been quite a transition for this genial lefthander from Chennai. On the short side for a cricketer, Sriram came into prominence last season and was selected to represent the country during the South African tour to India. [More]

Delhi's big hitting allrounder, Virender Shewag, is on the fringes of selection to the national side. Indeed the short, stocky 21-year- old has already played in a ODI against Pakistan during the Pepsi Cup in April 1999 and went on to figure among the 19 probables for the World Cup last year, although not making the final cut. Having been surprisingly overlooked for the entire 1999-2000 season, Shewag is quietly determined to make his presence felt in the calendar that looms ahead. [More]

Shalabh Sriwastava is one of a breed rarely sighted in the Indian sub-continent - left arm medium pacer. A tall lad who generates most of his pace from a high arm action, Sriwastava opened the bowling for the Indians in the Under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka with great success. His arm action helps him land the ball in the spot with high accuracy. It is this accuracy that most coaches look for in a young fast bowler. Bowling from close to the stumps, Sriwastava relies on nagging accuracy more than pace to pick up his wickets. [More]

Mumbai medium pacer Santosh Saxena was curled up in a corner and having forty winks when I dropped in at a Tamil Nadu Cricket Association first division league match at the Central Polytechnic - India Pistons Ground in Madras. Saxena's team Jolly Rovers were in the field so it was a bit surprising to see him so blissfully divorced from the proceedings until realisation dawned that he was sitting out the match. [More]

Zaheer Khan of Baroda is touted as one of India's pace prospects for the forthcoming international season. The Ahmednagar born lad, who will complete 22 in October, has been busy playing league cricket in Madras for Globe Trotters which represents the MRF. Zaheer has been with the MRF Pace Foundation for the last three years and it has moulded him into a fighting fit product ready to pass through the turnstiles into international cricket. [More]

Vidyuth Sivaramakrishnan is a thoroughbred of impeccable pedigree. His father and two uncles all having played first class cricket, it was only natural that he was hooked onto the game from a young age. Although he has the build of a boxer, Vidyuth's trade consists not of delivering knockout punches but of deceptively gentle left arm spinners. A member of the Tamil Nadu Ranji Trophy squad in 1998-99, he patiently bided his time before forcing his way into the playing eleven against Andhra at Visakhapatnam the following season. [More]

20 year old Rowland Barrington is christened after none else than the combative and hugely successful England middle order batsman of the 1960's. His father, a crazed fan of Kenneth Frank Barrington, was blissfully unaware that his son would don cricketing flannels himself some day. Rowland Barrington launched his first class career with a century on debut against Kerala at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, joining legends like GR Viswanath in the elite group of eight Karnataka batsmen to have performed the feat. [More]

India have been on the look out for a quality opening batsman in the recent past. They have converted many middle order batsmen into openers with pretty bad results. The time has come to quit experimenting and give a good young opening batsman a run. Ravneet Ricky could very easily be the perfect man for the job. Opening the innings in the Youth World Cup in Sri Lanka in the company of Manish Sharma, Ricky caught the eye of all the scribes present. [More]

Rohit Jhalani is one of the prospective occupants of the troubled wicket keeping spot in the national side. The 21 year old may not have the greatest visibility among domestic fans perhaps because he plays for unfancied Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy. But he has impressed all those who have watched him this season with a competent technique behind the wickets that garnered 20 victims in the country's premier domestic competition. [More]

When a young cricketer moves out of his home town and settles down in a city far away just to pursue a career in sport you know he is very serious about the game. Rajat Bhatia is one such young man. He moved from Delhi to Tamil Nadu early in his career. Having made the move to Chennai Rajat Bhatia has since established himself as a force to reckon with. Doing well in youth cricket, Bhatia resisted the temptation to specialise early on. Bowling nippy medium pacers and batting anywhere in the order Bhatia was welcome in any team. The fact that he scores his runs in quick time makes him all the more useful. [More]

Mithun Beerala is one of the bright young hopes to come out of the amply endowed Karnataka stable. With his father, B Raghunath, having opened the innings for Karnataka in the 1970's, Beerala took to the game as naturally as a duck takes to water. Having spent a year's apprenticeship, without playing a game, in the Karnataka squad which won the Ranji Trophy in 1998-99, the slightly built 22 year old made his first class debut this season and filled the breach created by the absence of Rahul Dravid and Vijay Bharadwaj by stringing together a series of effervescent knocks. [More]

What separates just any young talented cricketer from a future Champion? Asking the age old question, "What separates the men from the boys?" one need look no further than Yuvraj Singh. When he walks out onto the field, the swagger of confidence tells its own story. As he stands tall at over six feet in height and looks down the wicket at the bowler there is a message that goes out to the bowler. [More]

Nineteen year old Mohammed Kaif is the latest star on India's batting firmament, with his graceful mien and compact strokeplay being reminiscent of Mohammed Azharuddin in his heyday. Kaif has successfully come through a probation period with various youth tours and signalled his readiness for the highest level of the game during the recent Challenger Trophy. [More]