One-day cricket has a signature tune which is made up not of a series of delicate notes but rather the thumping bass that emanates from behind the closed doors of a disco. It's not the coloured clothes, black sight-screen, the white ball or even the sharp improvement in fielding standards. It is the advent of the opening batsman as aggressor, the complete opposite of his traditional role in Test cricket. India's own inimitable Krishnamachari Srikkanth was the first of that bold breed and one of his kind. But as the one-day game has evolved, the swashbuckling opener has almost become a necessity. His job is not to see off or blunt the new ball, but to send it to all parts of the ground and rattle up as many runs as he possibly can in the first 15 overs. In the World Cup in South Africa, there will be an awesome assembly of aggressive openers. Enjoy them.

Even a team with Sachin Tendulkar is happy to have Virender Sehwag. With two quality strokeplayers around, the runs don't rain for India on sunny days-they pour. Crowd favourite right from his first day in office, Sehwag hasn't found critics easy to please. He's a hit with the masses though because, eyebrow-raising technique or not, to them Sehwag is entertainment guaranteed. A batsman who finds temptation hard to resist, he also finds plenty to fall for at the start of a one-day innings. Once he gets his superb eye in, the cuts past point and the drives over cover are never too long in coming. Sehwag's decent run in the one-dayers in New Zealand-he scored two centuries-bodes well for India's chances in the World Cup. Good starts from him will give the famed Indian middle order the leg up it usually does well with. Going in as he is with a reputation to live up to, the tournament will also be his first big test. Will the pressure get to Sehwag? Will the much- discussed chinks in his armour prove to be his undoing on the bouncy tracks of South Africa? Let no one forget he is the man whom Tendulkar made room for at the top of the Indian batting.

South Africa's naughty boy has grown up quickly to become his country's foremost batsman in more ways than one. Herschelle Gibbs is one of cricket's born-again batsmen-banned for six months for his involvement in Cronjegate, Gibbs Mark II is a man transformed. A middle-order batsman, Gibbs was pushed up the order to give his team's starts a little more aggression. It is a role he has adapted to with great gusto, finishing 2002 as one of the top scorers in one-day internationals. In what was his most successful year as a one-day batsman, Gibbs scored 1,310 runs, including five centuries and three fifties. In the World Cup, he will be in a comfort zone: playing at home, on familiar wickets and backed by an adoring throng. The player who dropped Steve Waugh in a critical match against Australia in the 1999 World Cup has a chance to make amends.

Until a few years ago, the phrase "England opener" would make the names Geoff Boycott and Chris Tavare spring to mind-with accompanying thoughts of slow torture. Not any more. Ever since Marcus Trescothick stepped up to the plate for England two years ago in the NatWest Trophy, the team's opening combination has received a much-needed shot of adrenalin. The 27-year-old Somerset batsman is seen as the pivot of his team's efforts in the short game; England usually rise or fall depending on the kind of start their openers give. With the left-hander leading the charge at the top of the order, scoring close to 1,000 one-day runs last year, it appears England have found their opener for all seasons.

Until a few years ago, the phrase "England opener" would make the names Geoff Boycott and Chris Tavare spring to mind-with accompanying thoughts of slow torture. Not any more. Ever since Marcus Trescothick stepped up to the plate for England two years ago in the NatWest Trophy, the team's opening combination has received a much-needed shot of adrenalin. The 27-year-old Somerset batsman is seen as the pivot of his team's efforts in the short game; England usually rise or fall depending on the kind of start their openers give. With the left-hander leading the charge at the top of the order, scoring close to 1,000 one-day runs last year, it appears England have found their opener for all seasons.