No Virat Kohli, no Rohit Sharma? No problem for Indian cricket

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma won’t be in England for the summer of cricket. So India will be without their two best players for the Test series. That’s the new reality. The two have retired, leaving a vacuum. It was bound to happen. Nobody can play forever. Even the great Sachin Tendulkar bowed before Father Time.

With age, hand-eye coordination becomes slower, reflexes a tad tardy, and footwork sluggish. These are ill-suited for Tests, which are a stern examination of a batsman’s technique and temperament. Kohli and Rohit know this. Which is why the two decided to call time on their Test careers, although they have at least a couple of years of cricket left in them.

Every team goes through these upheavals, especially when a golden generation fades. India went through a transition when Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid retired one after the other. Kohli soon took the mantle of the star batter, while Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane lent steel to the middle, and India were on the way to dominance in world cricket.

Australia also suffered when Rodney Marsh, Dennis Lillee and Greg Chappell quit international cricket and took a while to rebuild. And it wasn’t easy. A weeping Kim Hughes gave up captaincy after a string of losses, paving the way for a gritty Allan Border to rise to the challenge.

Under Border, Australia won the World Cup, but they only became a formidable side under Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh. By then, a new array of superstars had arrived, led by the incomparable Shane Warne. Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Haden, Adam Gilchrist were among the side that became The Invincibles.

Until then, the West Indies were The Invincibles. Clive Lloyd had built a team with four fearsome fast bowlers who complemented a fabulous set of batters. Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Colin Croft, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall sent down thunderbolts that rocked the best batters in the world, and allowed Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Viv Richards and others to blaze away the opposition bowlers.

After that era ended, West Indies cricket was never the same again. They continue to produce brilliant cricketers and even won a few T20 World Cups, but they never really recaptured the former glory. Worse, they even failed to qualify for some international events.

India wouldn’t endure that fate. For there is a vast reservoir of talent that’s the envy of the world. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubhman Gill are young but have abundant international experience. Then there’s Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair and several others who could easily slip into the shoes of Kohli and Rohit. They may not be as flamboyant, but they will do the job. In time, they would have made their mark in international cricket.

So India won’t have to worry. The England series could be trying; they might even lose it, as swing and seam will pose problems to the batters. But that shouldn’t be reason enough to feel disheartened. After all, failures are the stepping stones to success.