Chopra and Dasgupta ready for national honours

There's a hole in the Indian batting order, and it's at the top. Since Sunil Gavaskar's retirement in 1986-87, 26 different players and 41 opening combinations have failed to yield the answer to the most contentious question facing Indian cricket: who will square up against the new ball in Australia. Plenty of openers have already paraded their ware, without distinction, it may be added, in the season openers. National selectors have lined up a few more for the two tour games against New Zealand. Wisden CricInfo caught up with two from the long list who are likely to get their first chance of the season.

Akash Chopra, Delhi
Chopra, 26, has been a mainstay of the Delhi Ranji team for the last five seasons, and an outstanding performer in India's A tours to Sri Lanka and the West Indies. An injury kept him out of the Challenger Trophy, but now he gets two chances to display his talent before the first Test against New Zealand.

Being picked for both the tour games against New Zealand is a pleasant surprise. I know the opener's slot is still up for grabs. Now my priority will be to take it game by game. Over the years I have added a few shots under my belt. Naturally, I am a patient batsman and have the temperament to stick around for long at the wicket. But after adding a few more strokes, I have tried to increase the pace of my scoring and this helped me a lot during the India A tours of Sri Lanka and the West Indies in the last couple of seasons.

If it was not for the injury (he tore the anterior cruciate ligament on his right knee while playing a game of football three weeks before Delhi's semifinals against Tamil Nadu) I would have played the Challenger Trophy too. I had attended the camps at the NCA in Bangalore in the tune-up to the Challenger, and Andrew [Leipus] was a bit apprehensive about the total recovery from the injury and thought a couple of weeks more would heal it completely. At the NCA, Leipus and King put me on to additional two-and-a-half hour training to analyse my recovery. But more importantly, John Wright told me at the camp that he had been following my game and felt that I was almost there. It has strengthened my self belief.

Deep Dasgupta, West Bengal
Deep Dasgupta, 26, has been both saviour and villain in his eight-match Test career. Asked to open the batting when nobody else wanted the job in bouncy South Africa, his obduracy was instrumental in securing India a draw in the second Test. In his next Test, against England at Mohali, Dasgupta eked out a vital century on the first day. Obscuring that, however, has been some blatantly inept wicketkeeping performances, for which he has been shown no empathy. Now, the spotlight will be on him after more than a year which he spent honing, in particular, his work behind the stumps.

Even though I didn't get picked for the Challengers and Irani Trophy, this selection hasn't come as a big surprise. I had heard some talk that I might get picked, and also read some newspaper reports which hinted it. Given the bouncy pitches in Australia, I got the feeling that they might be looking for a keeper who could bat. This game is a big opportunity for me.

My last season was mixed. I perhaps didn't perform as well with the bat as I could have, but I also got some very poor umpiring decisions. I think my keeping has definitely come along. I spent the summer in England, playing for Norwich Cricket Club, and standing up to swing bowlers in helpful conditions was good learning.

Opening the batting in those conditions was also an experience. There are four openers (including myself) in this India A team, so I'm not sure where in the order I will bat. For Bengal last season, I batted both at the top and in the middle. I enjoy batting for long periods generally, and I'd be delighted to open for India again.