The success of Ganguly's team in Australia in 2003-04 was in large part due to the sizeable opening stands, in which Akash Chopra was a significant partner. He provided additional value through sharp catching close in. He was discarded too soon, and for the specious reason that he himself did not get large scores, instead of considering his value as a team man. It took two more years to find Gambhir, and yet two more to let him mature; fortunately recent selectors had the sense to persevere with him.

I agree with the previous comment. Akash Chopra was too soon a discard. He has a compact technique, and that 'let's see you get me out' temperament which was soothing to have with Sehwag at the other end.

But yes, Gambhir is better today than Chopra ever was.

But I'd still have Chopra as the third opener ahead of Wasim Jaffer or Dinesh Kartick.

And whatever happened to Sadagopan Ramesh??

I very much agree with Navan's comment above. To add that India drew the 2003-04 series (a potent attack with Warne and McGrath) very much due to Akash Chopra. Tragic that Chopra was discarded soon. The article does not fully acknowledge this fact. Also note that Sehwag-Gambhir have not been judged outside the sub-continent. Hope they do well, but lets wait until then.

Amid all the hype,it should be noted that Gambhir is yet to play a test outside the sub-continent.

It's not to say that he will not be successful elsewhere.But,it's something to keep in mind before declaring him as Sunil Gavaskar's replacement.

The true test for an opening batsman comes against a bowling attack in unfavourable conditions. To some extent, the tour to New zealand will test the technique of Gambhir (Sehwag has been there and done that before; only batsman to score a century in NZ in the tour of 2002)
The ultimate test lies against South Africa in SA - facing the likes of pumped up Steyn, Morkel in their own backyard (like Durban!) is much more challenging than facing the likes of deflated Brett Lee & uninspired Harmisons in the muddy backyards of India.
Until then, lets reserve our judgement for another day!

and India's new ball pair is also the best..if only someone can take the madness out of Sreesanth..We will wallop South Africa in South Africa

The success attributed to India this year is by and large down to the opening do of Sehwag-Gambhir. A perfect blend of aggression and accumulation was just the tonic India needed at the top of the order. Sehwags ability to completely change the complexion of a match is phenomenal. He is a hit-and-miss type of player but he hits more than he misses. Gambhir is the perfect foil for Sehwag, because of the way Sehwag plays, Gambhir has often been left to hold the innings together but he has prospered in this role, providing the anchor for the middle order to play around. As the future unfolds, I am sure that the Sehwag-Gambhir duo will become 2 of the most devastating and feared opening batsmen in the history of world cricket.

It's a bit like Australia. In the mid to late 90s, Slater, Blewett were adequate openers but Australian dominance reached a new level with the rampaging Hayden-Langer combination. SA too has a good combination in Smith-McKenzie who has got some flak in this series, though. Which probably gives us a new cliche to replace the old one, "Openers win matches." The beauty of the Gambhir-Sehwag combine is that it is just as effective in ODIs and T20s too, which is unlike most successful opening pairs in the short history of limited over cricket. Greenidge-Haynes, Taylor-Waugh and Sohail-Anwar come to mind and all of these are so long ago already.

This is India's best opening pair..let them play together for more time. Ganbir and Sehwag will definitely be considered for a WORLD team as the best paired opening batsmen who compliment each other and understand each other. Their opening stands have led to many Indian victories and I look forward to more success from them when India tours NZ and WI..

Anshuman- I think SA proved that they are more than a match for India in India. That being said Sehwag and Gambir are a treat to watch. Sehwag has that Jayasurianess about him, any ball not matter how well bowled can go for 4 or 6. That alone makes it exciting to watch, and with Yuvi comming in down the order sparks are bound to fly.

Anshuman- I think SA proved that they are more than a match for India in India. That being said Sehwag and Gambir are a treat to watch. Sehwag has that Jayasurianess about him, any ball not matter how well bowled can go for 4 or 6. That alone makes it exciting to watch, and with Yuvi comming in down the order sparks are bound to fly.

Another thought, as Rahul Dravid approqaches the twilight zone, can Aakash Chopra be groomed to take over the No. 3 spot in the order. He may not be the next Dravid but he has the technique and temprament. Now he's added run making to his repertoire. Hmm could be interesting.

Even though New Zealand are half the side they were a few years back,Sehwag and Gambhir will have their first stern test in New Zealand in seaming and swinging conditions.I have seen many an Indian opener excel in home conditions only to struggle abroad.All the best to them.

It is soo happy.. we have the best opening pairs both with the ball and the bat.. unbeliveable for decades they have been merely additional team members assinged to take of the shinning of the ball (both batsmen and bowler) for the middle and spinners to play it. The times have changed Zaheer and Ishant are covers for our spinners form loss, Shewag and Ghambir are cover for our middle order form loss.

shewag really is a terror, and that help Ghambir (Mr.Reliable) a lot to pass all the runs slow and steady while the runs keep flowing at one end. Zaheer and Ishant are more fearsome and none of the other country openers will like to take them.

Let us hope these new fearsome four continue there hungry and hunt (for runs and wicket) into the coming years.

So far so good....Gambhir's technique is yet to be tested in Australia, SA, England etc. I thinkf if he do well against the New Zeland, a good club side, he should hold himself in good stead. Real test of openers these days are Steyn & Ntini. Sehwag would say yes hands down! And no, not on a Chennai belter. Having said that both these opners have earned the right of being termed as world class opners.

Like others have already mentioned it is a tad early to herald the "arrival" of the next Sunny days. I also think the future of Indian middle order holds plenty of promise with a formidable supply of batting bench strength. If the Gambhir and Sehwag pair live up to the expectations and the Indian selectors shrewdly phase out the middle order at the right time, we are looking at a formidable Indian batting lineup the likes of which cricket has never seen before!

Team India's success has been mostly because of the openers Gambhir-Sehwag. But all of the success has happened within India. There next series is against New Zealand. India have always struggled there, if they happen to win there and around different parts of the world you could then say this Indian team and the opening pair is the best team India has ever had.

Team India's success has been mostly because of the openers Gambhir-Sehwag. But all of the success has happened within India. There next series is against New Zealand. India have always struggled there, if they happen to win there and around different parts of the world you could then say this Indian team and the opening pair is the best team India has ever had.

I remember watching Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the 90's and wondering if India would ever have the fire power to walk out determined to bury their opponents in the first 20 overs. With this opening pair, a solid middle order and some world class bowlers who can seam, swing and spin, India is officially a contender to the one-day and test title. Should be an exciting five years.

Most entertaining and destructive opening pair in world cricket today (thanks mostly to Sehwag). Pre-mature to label Gambhir as world-class - he needs to prove himself on hard and bouncy pitches abroad. India's pace attack in my mind has been the difference maker. It's useless to post big totals when you dont have the bowlers to defend them or chase targets that are impossible to achieve. Now we can limit opponents and blast our way to targets. With they way all the parts are aligning, this is the best team India have ever had.

Very entertaining pair indeed especially with Sehwag on the go but a lot of openers tend to appear very great and imposing on those pancake pitches in India and the rest of the subcontinent.

Gambhir-Sehwag look promising but they have to prove themselves in alienic conditions.If Gambhir was in the test team downunder,we would have come to know how this pair performs away.Lets reserve our judgement now.Sehwag has proved himself
all over the world with a hundred in the NZ series in 2002 & hundred in his debut series against RSA in RSA.Gambhir has to prove himself yet in foreign conditions.Regarding ODIs this pair is even more deadly than in tests.But till now Sachin-Ganguly combine have been lethal at the top in ODIs scoring 8227 runs in 176 matches at 47.55 with 26 hundreds and 29 fifties.Whats even more lethal is ,they are miles ahead of Atapattu-Jayasurya combine who stand in the 5000 run club.Whats even more fascinating is that,in away and neutral venues,this pair has 6005 runs in 131 matches with 18 hundreds and 22 fifties.A stunning 75% of runs away.It will take quite sometime to give this pair a beating.Lets hope Gambhir-Sehwag get us
this.They deserve to.

It is instructive to read these comments. I too feel it is too early to judge this opening pair but atleast they have started off getting runs through relatively OK stands. The problem is in the middle order & India must get that right. I think we should all be cautiously optimistic about India's performance in New Zealand. They will need to be focussed, disciplined & professional which is what most of us professional NRIs are (or have to be)when we live & work in the West. It is a delight always to watch India win overseas & I hope they do it more often under their new Captain MS Dhoni who appears to be quite professional.

Gambhir may yet have to prove himself overseas, but if he is successful then India can look to have another great batting era. While the general opinion is that post-Fab Four India's middle order can never be as strong. We forget the talent of India's young brigade. Even if I were to just quickly put together a few names for a post-Fab Four Indian team (and there are many different possible combinations):
Gambhir
Sehwag
Ajinkya Rahane
Cheteshwar Pujara (watch out)
Manoj Tiwary (chhotta dada)
Virat Kohli/Rohit Sharma/Yuvraj Singh (Kohli could become the real deal if he tightens his technique, same with Sharma)
Dhoni
Chawla (a better batsman than Mishra and possibly a better bowler if he can improve his legbreak), Harbhajan (if he can stick around)
Zaheer
Ishant

That's a fairly formidable team (if you analyse their Ranji Trophy records). So I think India's future in batting is probably safe.

*Apologies if this is repeated post, an error occurred while posting*

If Gambhir can push his test average above 50, then India will have the first opening batting pair with 50+ averages.

This was not the case with Greenidge/Haynes, Hayden/Langer, or Taylor/Slater. I don't think any opening pair in the modern era had both openers with a 50+ average.

Instead of getting in Akash Chopra who is a strokeless wonder, we should groom Badrinath, Pujara, Rohit Sharma, S Raina who have the strokes and the talent to be the next dependable middle order that India needs.
If only selectors had the vision that we spectators have

cheers
kris

Sehwag and Gambhir are the best opening pair in the world today.While Sehwag is tearing the opening bowling to pieces Gambhir settles in and forms the sheet anchor at the other end.There is bedlum if Sehwag plays even for 20 overs. He is the most feared batsman in the world with totally demoralising effect on the best of the bowlers. He will do whatever it takes to get runs with strike rate averaging 90.He is the Commander in General of the crease.Gambhir is Mr. Consistency and may be compared to Gavaskar.He has scored over 1100 runs in 2008.How many have done this in the world?Once India is off to a good start, we have Dravid or Raina at 3, Sachin, Laxman, Yuvraj and Dhoni to consolidate.Each is capable of at least a 50.Last 4 are bowlers & need to show some consistency to keep India winning.This is a well balanced team & will remain together for at least for next 12 months.Fab 3 need replacements in next 2 to 3 years. Raina, Vijay, Tiwary & Pujara will be ready to take over then.

The 2003-04 series in Austrlia was drawn largely due to the efforts of Chopra. In my book the only sin which Ganguly committed was spoiling Chopra's career and denting his confidence by announcing at that stage taht Yuvraj was India's first choice as opener with Sehwag. What Yuvraj did after that is best left unsaid.

To add to Ashok's point, not only did Gambhir make 1100+ runs in 2008, but he made them in only 8 matches and 6 months!
And while some may question his ability to thrive in Aus, NZ, SA, Eng (a fair point, we'll see the answers later), he did well in SL against Murali and Mendis.

As usual we indian have come out in forces praising these guys to the sky! guys let them travel to NZ first and score a few runs and then we can elavate them to the best ever status. As is NZ is a tricky place to score runs and i guess players like sehwag,ghambir and yuvi might fail in 5 innings but ve a stupendous century in 1 inning - which obvisouly is not going to be enough. So unless they collectively perform and win the series in NZ(which india hasnt done for ages!!) i wont call our team world beaters!!!(heck even england ve beaten them so many times)...so lets wait and see before we jump the gun n proclaim seh-gham as the best and proclaim india as no.1!!!!

Correcting Raja, the 2003-04 Test series in Australia didn't had Warne and McGrath. This was probably the reason that India managed to hang on to the series.

Facing the new ball, today, is easier than it was in the sixties, seventies, and the times before those times. If the pitch is sedate, then the batsman can accumulate runs, perhaps reasonably. On a green wicket, the opening batsmen, do not fancy their chances, and nor do the other batsmen. If an opening batsman can score at a fair clip, and has the confidence to attempt to do so, then the bowling side has to consider, until such a batsman gets out. The reason why Australia, could win in Sri Lanka, in Test Series, against the bowling of Murali and Co., was because all their batsmen were aggressive. Perhaps, India is adopting this creed for it's batsmen.

Easy up fellows, Smith and McKenzie are the best openers today. Sehwag and Gambhir are just the most exciting ones. The South African pair have the most hundred partnerships and the highest average. So stop becoming like excitable puppies. The two are very good but not the best pair right now. It will take a while for India to fill in the gaps left behind after Dravid and Laxman go. Yuvraj needs a kick up the backside, he's not good enough with his temperament. It will be a good idea to hold on to your excitment. One swallow doesn't make the summer...

Absolutely true.If this opening pair continue to go the way it has done, then India need have no worries in the future about good starts.Their effortless strokeplay combined with excellent running between the wickets makes them a very formidable pair for any new ball attack.In tests, Sehwag goes blitzkrieg while Gambhir settles in in the first few overs.And in ODIs its a Gambhir show in the first 10 overs or so during which Viru settles in and then when Viru shifts gears(read explodes), Gauti plays second fiddle. This and the splendid running between wickets can be attributed to the fact that these guys have been playing with each other for a long time and know each other quite well, having played for Delhi, Delhi Daredevils, ONGC etc.Best of luck for this awesome Viru-Gauti pair in the future and hope they'll be among the ones taking India to the numero uno spot in both test match cricket as well as ODIs.

If Gambhir fails in New Zealand, I shall be very surprised.

The point I'd make is that I am not an Indian talking up Indian players for my own satisfaction, but an outside observer who was deeply impressed by Gambhir's composure and technique.

He has a weakness for fencing at balls bouncing outside off stump, but that's a failing common to left-handers and I wouldn't worry about it overmuch.

I didn't mention Chopra by name as one of those who failed to make much of the opportunity when selected, but he did - even if not quite as feebly as some of the others.

I'd disagree with Muscle Girl about Smith and McKenzie too. While Smith is now what Hayden used to be, the best left-handed big bully of an opener, McKenzie is often far too cautious, and he is no good at taking over as senior partner if Smith gets out early, whereas Gambhir seems to revel in the responsibility of keeping things going while Dravid takes a couple of hours to score more than a single every fifteen minutes.

The LONG WALK. This is often reffered to when a batsman starts walking back to the pavilion after getting out. Gautam Gambhir has the most visually long walk after he gets out. I can Imagine how long his walk would have been when he got out for 97 in the 2nd innings of the 2nd Test VS Australia realising that he missed a 2nd ton of the match by a mere 3 runs. All said and done I feel India have found what they have looking for since the departure of the Little Master in 87. Well done Gauti.

A Suitable Boy. This is what Gautam Gambhir has become for India at the top.Ever since the departure of The Little Master few could stay and bat at the top. Shrikant and Sidhu did manage but soon they too departed. Now Sehwag has found a great foil in Gauti. On a lighter side I feel Gauti has the longest walk after getting out. Imagine how long the walk would have been if it was timed, when he got out on 97 against the Aussies in the 2nd innings of the 2nd test realising that he had missed a 2nd ton of the test by a mere 3 runs. Well done Gauti Keep it up

yes please dont forget me.. india needs someone when gauti decides to go around elbowing bowlers...

Mr.Raja im sorry to say that in India's tour of Australia in 2003, Shane Warne and McGrath didnot play.......

The best part of Sehwag-Gauti combo is that they are doing well in all forms of the game - be it T20, ODI's or tests. It definitely remains to be seen how the pair does in NZ or SA pitches but again with a captain like Dhoni, the attitude of the entire team has changed to a more positive outlook.
Sehwag will always be Sehwag - the destroyer wherever he plays and no matter what score he is on ( which is evident in the 6's he has hit in the 90's or 190's ). Gauti has become a very compact player and the duo have the makings of a fine opening pair. Again comparison's with Gavaskar is definitely not fair. In my mind he is one of the best openers the world has ever seen in Test cricket. Gauti knows his limitations and more importantly his strenghts. Hence he is succesful in all forms of the game. And as Nish has pointed out, there is a definte pool of talent that can comprise of the middle order, alrounders and a good bowling attack. Probably the best of the team is yet to come :-)