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India in search of a good finisher


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The younger group has to remember that batting slots have to be earned More... India in search of a good finisher K.C. Vijaya Kumar The younger group has to remember that batting slots have to be earned PRACTICE IS THE KEY: Suresh Raina needs to work on his weakness against short-pitched bowling to achieve more success at the international level. Vadodara: Suresh Raina found cold comfort on arriving in the middle here on Sunday afternoon. Australia was busy tightening its grip on the first match of the Hero Honda Cup ODI series at the Reliance Stadium when Raina stepped in and Mitchell Johnson immediately fired in a bouncer, suggesting that the southpaw’s weakness against short-pitched stuff is common knowledge. Raina scored nine and ironically fell to Johnson’s slower delivery. Subsequently, India went into a tail-spin with Ravindra Jadeja too failing and it was left to Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar to nearly trigger a twist in the tale with their lusty blows. Incidentally, prior to Raina’s brief tenure, Virat Kohli (30) promised much but delivered little. Capable of more Raina has scored 374 runs in his last 14 innings but he is capable of much more as was evident in the sparkling unbeaten 81 he scored in a winning cause against England at Faridabad in 2006 or the two centuries he notched up in the Asia Cup at Karachi in 2008. Raina has to work on the advice that coach Gary Kirsten and Sachin Tendulkar offered during the Indian team’s last camp in Bangalore. Kirsten and Tendulkar had shown the need for decisive footwork to avoid getting into a tangle against short-pitched bowling. Subsequently, during a promotional event, Raina said: “Next time a bouncer comes my way, I will give a fitting reply.” However, Raina’s reply is still to come. Kohli has the ability Kohli does have the ability and can be tough. He once played a Ranji Trophy game against Karnataka in Delhi putting behind him his father’s death. Kohli needs to tighten his shot selection and not get trapped in the transient stardom that cricket bequeaths to talented youngsters. The likes of Raina, Kohli and Jadeja may have failed in the opening clash on Sunday and we also have the cautionary tale about Rohit Sharma, who was dropped following a string of poor scores, but this is no time for alarm bells. The performance of these players will continue to be critical to the Indian team as it pits its wares against Australia, besides other teams in the near future. Stable anchor Tendulkar remains the senior statesman and stable anchor while Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh are also seniors in their own right and that leaves batsmen like Raina and Kohli to take the Indian batting torch ahead along with a settled Gautam Gambhir in the years to come. The younger group has to remember that Rahul Dravid has been benched in their favour and that there are other youngsters waiting in the wings. Batting slots are earned and not gained on the mere promise of youth. Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni emphasised the need for good finishers, a role that Raina and Kohli, will have to embrace in the future. “You don’t get finishers in the game. Yuvraj is young but he has played over 200 ODIs and that is how you learn to finish a game. “There are only a few Tendulkars in the game, who go on with it and they are among the best you get in any side. You have to groom individuals who are talented and are open-minded when it comes to learning the art of how to bat in ODIs. “More often than not you get a talented player and you have to groom him and he has to learn how to finish a game,” Dhoni said. The matches against Australia could well be a dry-run to test whether Raina and Co. have some steel beneath their obvious talent. It helps though that India is playing at home.

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