Syed Kirmani asserts not everyone can be successful at 16 like Sachin Tendulkar

Tendulkar lit up the world of cricket from the time he made his debut on November 15, 1989 against India’s fierce rivals Pakistan at a tender age of 16. Whatever happened after that day, has been recorded in history. Tendulkar will always be remembered as one of the greatest batsmen to have played the game centuries down the line.

But former Indian wicket-keeper, Syed Kirmani reminded us that while Tendulkar managed to work things out for himself, the same cannot be expected off every young budding cricketer in the current Indian team. Kirmani added that youngsters like Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson needed to be given time in order to make a smooth transition from domestic first-class cricket to the international stage.

"Everyone is not Sachin Tendulkar, who will be a success at 16 years. He was a prodigy but that's not the case with everyone else. Parthiv was inducted very early which shouldn't have happened. Rishabh is talented but he should be groomed enough so that he doesn't go the Parthiv way," Kirmani told PTI during an interview.

Parthiv Patel made his international debut in 2002 but due to the dominance of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, he has had somewhat of an under-achieving career having played only 65 international matches (25 Tests, 38 ODIs and 2 T20 Internationals) in 16 years.

"Parthiv was inducted very early -- right from U-19 to senior team (he had played India A when he was summoned for England series). That should have never happened. Parthiv suffered as he was not ready. He suffered because of lack of experience and started lagging behind. That's why I stress about grooming someone at the domestic level. Don't induct a Pant or a Sanju Samson straightaway.

"I would want them to show more consistency at the first-class level for a considerable period along with peak fitness and immaculate keeping technique," said Kirmani.

Kirmani was quick to add that once world cup winning captain decided to quit International cricket, he would choose new KKR captain Dinesh Karthik as India’s first choice keeper in the limited overs format.

"I still feel Dhoni didn't do the right thing by retiring from Tests. Virat still needs his guidance and also the next batch could have learnt more about the rigours of Test cricket from him. But as far as ODIs and T20s are concerned, my choice is Dinesh Karthik. He is a fantastic batsman, a safe wicketkeeper and a very good outfielder. He is an all-rounder for me," Kirmani added.