Watch out for Peter Handscomb and K L Rahul growing in prominence

Indiarsquos KL Rahul during his hundred against Australia in Sydney on January 8 2015The u00c2u0080u00c2u0088regeneration of teams is one of the more fascinating aspects of the game The fact that India for example were able to absorb the considerable blows of losing champion batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman and continue to thrive is a tribute to their development systemThe maturity of Virat Kohli into one of the finest batsmen in the world has helped India overcome those losses but Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara have also helped ensure a smooth transition The production line still seems to be in fine working order with KL Rahul and Karun Nair now displaying their considerable skillsIndiarsquos director of cricket at the time Ravi Shastri first alerted me to Rahulrsquos likely rise to prominence Many years of working with Shastri have led me to trust his judgement so I wasnrsquot surprised when Rahul overcame a wobbly start to his career to compile a sound century at the SCGThis innings displayed his composure as well as a solid technique and a decent array of strokes For an Indian player to open his Test century account on a bouncy Australian pitch is no mean feat and by continuing to score heavily in different parts of the cricket world Rahul has further confirmed his ability The areas of concern with Rahul are his injury history and the number of low scores in between the three figure innings The fact that hersquos only played nineteen Test innings in the space of two years is a worrying trend and the eight single figure scores are not what you want in an opening batsmanPeter Handscomb of Australia celebrates his century against Pakistan at the Gabba in Brisbane on December 16 2016 PicsGetty ImagesHowever only one of those low scores has come in 2016 which could mean hersquos gradually eradicating this unwanted trait He may also need to sharpen his footwork against the spinners as five of his nine dismissals in 2016 have come against tweakersWhile India has been outstanding in producing good young batsmen the rest of the world hasnrsquot been standing still England has with varying degrees of success recently introduced Ben Duckett Haseeb Hameed and Keaton Jennings to Test cricket Sri Lanka has been a surprise packet in this regard with young players like Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva contributing centuries in their upset whitewash of AustraliaAustralia was forced to make wholesale changes to their batting lineup following the demolition job done by the South African attack at Bellerive As a result of that collapse Matthew Renshaw Peter Handscomb and Nic Maddinson were all introduced to Test cricketOf that trio Handscomb has been the most prolific and looked the most assured Handscombrsquos thoughtful approach to T20 batting first caught my eye during the Big Bash League BBL His Test century against Pakistan at the Gabba confirmed he was a young man with both the shots and temperament to succeedShane Warne was the first to praise Handscombrsquos ability against spinners claiming he had the best footwork of any batsman in Australia and this was while he was bowling to the young man in the netsThis claim will soon be tested in the toughest of cauldrons a Test series in India Therersquos no doubt that if Australia is to make a better fist of touring India Handscomb will have to play a big part in any resurgenceGood batsmen come and go but watching this passing parade of different styles offers a lot of pleasure In this age of power dominated batting itrsquos comforting to see artistry from players compiling skilful Test centuries