Abhinav Mukund

Abhinav Mukund, an opening batsman from Tamil Nadu, took the traditional route to the Test fold: through Ranji Trophy cricket and other domestic first-class events. As a precocious teenager, Mukund lit up his debut games in Ranji and Irani cricket with fluent hundreds and immediately exhibited performances that showed that he belonged at the highest level of cricket. With an insatiable appetite for runs and the composure to convert his knocks into big hundreds, he has achieved the rare feat of scoring two triple-hundreds in domestic cricket, one of which came when he was still a teenager. He was also a part of the India Under-19 squad in 2008 under Virat Kohli, but struggled with the bat due to poor form and didn't get a game. However, runs continued to flow in domestic cricket and he continued to build a reputation for himself in the longer format.

Mukund struck the headlines when he shared a famous quadruple-century opening stand for Tamil Nadu with fellow Test opener, Murali Vijay. Mukund had started off with a slightly poor on-side game, with a tendency to go cross-batted with the glance with his head falling over to the off-side but his appetite for runs and his knack for getting stuck at the crease and scoring consistently big was certainly difficult to ignore for the selectors. His comeback after some poor form during the U-19 World Cup to score a triple-hundred in Ranji cricket showed his immense mental strength and batting ability. With four seasons of first-class experience, Abhinav still averaged 60 and used this weight of runs to force himself into the Test fold.

Mukund received his Test cap on the tour to the Caribbean islands in the hangover of the World Cup victory as India rested its regular openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Mukund scored just one fifty in the three Tests in the Caribbean, but showed temperament beyond his years and looked comfortable at the crease. This earned him a place in the squad for the tour of England later that year. Mukund made 49 in the in the Lord's Test, but was found out against the laterally moving ball in the three innings that followed and struggled to such an extent that Virender Sehwag had to be recalled for the third Test without having fully recovered from his shoulder injury.

Mukund has improved his game and corrected his flaws after the tour, but has remained in the fringes, often representing the India A side. He had an outstanding 2016/17 Ranji season, scoring 849 runs including four hundreds. This brought him yet another shot at Test cricket as India set off for the one-off Test against Bangladesh with four openers:

By Rishi Roy
As of September 2018