Four young overseas openers who impressed during India's home season

India had a very long home season having back to back Test series against New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia. Led by Virat Kohli, the team put together an outstanding show winning all the series and it added to India’s grip at the top of the ICC Test team rankings. It was first the Kiwis who lost all the 3 Tests, then the Englishmen received a 4-0 hammering with a Test being drawn followed by Bangladesh being beaten in the one-off Test and the latest being the Aussies who were beaten by 2-1. As a result of the wonderful season, India strengthened their grip on top of the ICC Test rankings.

Although India dominated the most of the season, there were some of the players from the opposition that stood out. Opening the innings on Indian surfaces can be a tricky job as the batsmen have to face all the heat first up. All the teams had an interesting combination of an experienced and a young batsman at the top. Where the experienced lads like Martin Guptill, Alastair Cook and David Warner failed miserably, the youngsters stood up and showed some magnificent character.

Here are the 4 opposition young opening batsmen who made a mark during India’s home season:

#1 Tom Latham

The New Zealand team had a dismal outing in all the three Tests and they failed to get past the score of 300 on pitches that were good for batting. But there was one batsman who was consistently doing well for them. The 24-year-old Tom Latham was perhaps the best Kiwi batsman on the tour.

The left-hander scored 194 runs in 6 innings and ended up as the second highest run-getter for New Zealand just behind Luke Ronchi. He scored half-centuries in all the three Tests and had scores of 58, 74 and 53. More than anything else, it was his grit and the eagerness to grind it out in the middle that impressed the most.