Wisden overview
Universally hailed as the answer to India's long and futile search for a genuine Test opener, Shiv Sunder Das finds himself in a struggle to salvage a floundering career within two years of making a promising debut against Zimbabwe. Only the second player to make it to the Indian Test team from lowly Orissa, Das does most things right as an opener: he has an immaculate judgment of his off stump, his feet movements are precise and he keeps a still head in both defence and attack. But though he has been India's first-choice opener for a while now, he has disappointed his backers by failing to convert numerous good starts. He is yet to score a century against a strong attack - both his hundreds have come against Zimbabwe at Nagpur, and he was a forlorn figure during India¹s tour of West Indies in 2002, where he was repeatedly found stuck on the backfoot, unable to judge the length against the tall West Indian fast bowlers. The tour of England will test his technical skills and mental strength. Sambit Bal

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