ODI preview / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 10 October 2011 /

Indian cricket is in good hands in the form of the stylish and cool-headed Virat Kohli and we're about to see just how good he is when the 1st ODI against England starts on Friday, says Jamie Pacheco.

The next two years will be vital in shaping the future of Indian cricket.

We know that Rahul Dravid has played his last innings in coloured clothing, that VVS Laxman is on borrowed time in the Test arena and that the star of the fiercely competitive - and often annoying - Harbhajan Singh has waned. The spinner's absence from India's ODI squad to play England over the next month is proof of this after very indifferent performances in the Test series in England. Singh did admittedly lead the Mumbai Indians to their first-ever trophy in Sunday's T20 Champions League final (in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar) to remind the selectors that he's perhaps a different player on home soil but we'll have to wait and see if they decide to persist with a player who has always carried plenty of baggage. Just like an Andrew Symonds or a Herschelle Gibbs, it's easy to turn a blind eye to Singh's misdemeanours when he's performing on the field, less so when his game is in the dumps.

As much as we don't want to admit it, Tendulkar's days are also numbered. Not because he no longer performs or the pressure of an expectant nation of one billion people is finally getting to him but rather because his body is starting to break down. After over 650 international matches played over 22 years, is it any wonder? And though the ice-cool MS Dhoni continues to lead by example and, for the most, part contributes with the bat, he may decide the strain of the captaincy is taking too much of a toll on his body and mind and that he may be best suited to give it up and focus on other aspects of his game. Like improving on his often-shoddy glove work...

Luckily for India, there's Virat Koli, the 22-year-old who has already played almost twice as many ODIs as England one-day skipper Alastair Cook. There are other young, dashing middle-order batsmen in world cricket with Umar Akmal of Pakistan and David Warner of Australia among the pick of them. But whereas Akmal has a lot to learn about shot selection and the pacing of an innings and Warner must develop a better technique in defence, Kohli already looks the finished article. He can play every shot in the book, can assess the situation and play accordingly, turns starts into big knocks and can deliver under pressure. Kohli can also bowl and is arguably India's best man in the field, by the way.

But what most impresses about the Delhi-born stroke-maker is the cool head on those young shoulders and the sharp cricketing brain sandwiched in between those carefully-cut sideburns. Already he's at the centre of most discussions between skipper and senior players and is surely the successor to Dhoni as the next India skipper in all formats. The job wouldn't be new to Kohli of course; he guided India U19s to the 2008 World Cup.

But promotion to arguably the biggest job in world cricket can wait. For now, he's intent on giving something back to the adoring fans who had to watch in horror as India somehow lost a five match series to England 3-0 which with a little bit of luck, they might well have won.

Batting at three or most likely four, Kohli will be spared the dangerous new ball whilst still being at the crease for the majority of India's 50 overs. The last time he featured in an ODI he was scoring 107 off 93 balls against England in Cardiff and he followed that up with knocks of 70 (36 balls) and 84 (49) to get his Royal Challengers Bangalore to the final of the Champions League T20, though he did admittedly fail to deliver in the final. Kohli will be around [5.5] to top score for India over the course of the series when the Betfair market matures. With Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag missing (at least) the first three matches and Suresh Raina and Dhoni batting too low down the order to score heavily enough, he's the stand-out bet to be England's chief tormentor as India look to turn the tables on an inexperienced England side.

Back Virat Kohli to be Series Top Indian batsman @ [5.5]

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