Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are ready for Test cricket: Vengsarkar

Indore, Dec 6 : Former skipper and ex-chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar feels that young middle-order batsmen Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have all the ingredients to step into the shoes of Indian batting legends - Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman who enter the twilight of their careers.
"They (Rohit and Virat) are future players of India in all formats at the international level. They have very good temperament and have good technique to play the short ball which is very important at the international level. They can handle the short ball very well," Vengsarkar said.

"Both have outstanding talent and are ready for Test cricket," added the former middle-order batsman.

Sharma and Kohli have been in top form in the 50-over format that has, of late, been the stepping stone for entering Test cricket and significantly, both have found berths in India's team for the much-awaited four-match rubber against the Australians commencing December 26.

Both have been among the runs in the ODI format. Sharma has continued from where he left off in the Caribbean in the return series against the West Indies at home while Kohli, after having made little impression in the three-Test series on the same tour, has done much better when given a chance to test his mettle in the slot vacated by Yuvraj Singh.

While the 24-year-old Sharma has been the fulcrum around which the Indian batting has revolved in the ongoing ODI series against the West Indies, with scores of 72, 90 not out and 95 in the first three games, Kohli came into his own with a classy 117 and his partnership with Sharma took the team past the challenging score in the second game.

The 23-year-old Kohli's ton was his eighth in 72 ODIs and third in the last nine games and his tally of over 900 runs in ODIs this year is second only to leading run-getter - England's Jonathan Trott.

Stand-in skipper Virender Sehwag, also heaped praises on the talented duo of young batsmen in the series.

The duo's tough test obviously lies on the bouncy pitches in Australia where they would be severely tested by the home team's young pace bowlers who would be eager to make a mark.

If they come out with flying colours Down Under, the most severe of their critics would have been answered.
--UNI