All-rounders, they say, are match-winners. They are the ones who provide their captains with moments of 'magic' that turn matches upside down. This statement would be heartily endorsed by a nation that has produced the likes of Vinoo Mankad and Kapil Dev, to name just two.

The current Indian team has two quality all-rounders in its ranks, in Irfan Pathan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Both men have done enough in their brief international careers, especially in the one-day variety, to indicate that they possess the wherewithal to deliver consistently in more than one department, for a long time.

The performances of India's youngsters in junior-level tournaments in the recent past also indicate that Pathan and Dhoni are poised to have some company. The reserves of talent possessed by the all-rounders who are knocking on the doors of the senior national team at the moment, are staggering to say the least. Let's take a look at two of the best cricketers in this category:

Gaurav Dhiman (India, Karnataka) - RH medium-pace, RH bat:

Dhiman first came into prominence in the 2003-04 season, when he represented India in the under-19 World Cup held in Bangladesh. He scored 123 runs from seven matches and took eight crucial wickets. His performances in the Cooch Behar Trophy, which is to the under-19 level what the Ranji Trophy is for the seniors, were outstanding. He bagged 29 wickets from only five games for his state Karnataka in the 2003-04 season, and did not look back.

He was one of India's best players in the 2006 edition of the under-19 World Cup, an event wherein his team finished as the runner-up.

The record-books will tell you that the gentleman cricketer Roger Binny was probably Karnataka's finest seam-bowling all-rounder ever. He was a competent batsman who could bat at any number, and a handy seamer. He was the highest wicket-taker in the 1983 World Cup, and an integral part of the outfit that won the World Championship of Cricket in 1984-85 and a Test series in England in 1986. Dhiman fits into the same mould, as a disciplined seamer and versatile batsman, who has been used as a 'floater' in the limited-overs variety.

Followers of Indian cricket will be very happy if Dhiman emulates his illustrious predecessor.

Piyush Chawla (India, UP):

Chawla has enough talent to be considered the 'next big thing' as far as the hallowed cricketing tradition of leg-spin bowling is concerned. He is an exceptional bowler, who has mastered most of the tricks that wrist-spinners have up their right sleeves. A part of the 'satellite TV' generation that grew up watching a certain Shane Warne revive the art of leg-spin, Chawla has it in him to be a fitting successor to the Indian maestro Anil Kumble.

Chawla has been a successful performer at the junior level since the early years of the millennium. His bowling played a significant part in Uttar Pradesh's sensational Ranji Trophy triumph in the 2005-06 season, and helped him win a place in the senior Indian team for the Test series against England. He handled the pressures of the highest level quite capably in the only Test he played, and made it a debut to remember by scalping English skipper Andrew Flintoff. His 35 wickets in the 2005-06 Ranji season were complemented by 224 runs, inclusive of two fifties. His effective left-handed batting in the lower order could well turn into an asset for the Indian team by the time Kumble, a stodgy right-handed bat himself, hangs up his boots. Most bowlers the world over hate left-handed batsmen anyway, and they are prone to getting exasperated and thereby losing their line, length and head if confronted by someone who holds them up in the lower order.