Rohit vs Rahul as opener

[eternalhope]

Rahul has been an opener most of his life and not a makeshift one. I will trust him more in that position any day over any other makeshift option.

[putrevus]

21 hours ago, vvvslaxman said:

Does it make sense that we continue with Rohit in ODIs as opener. He is found wanting when there is a slight bit of movement. He can be more dangerous down the order. I know Dhawan and Rohit shared some success. But when they fail we more often than lose. Also distributing the power right through the line up makes more sense. More i watch India under Kohli, it is almost like RCB under Kohli. There is distinct lack of balance. We consistently go with top heavy batting line up. India needs to enhance its depth and make the most out of all the resources.

Where has Rahul shown that he is capable of handling movement as an opener.Rohit and Dhawan are fine till world cup then we can reassess them. Rahul needs to come good at no4 if he wants to play in the team and I really hope he gets a chance there.

 

Being top heavy is not Kohli's fault, which players is he supposed to bring into middle order.

Edited June 4, 2018 by putrevus

[vvvslaxman]

1 hour ago, putrevus said:

Where has Rahul shown that he is capable of handling movement as an opener.Rohit and Dhawan are fine till world cup then we can reassess them. Rahul needs to come good at no4 if he wants to play in the team and I really hope he gets a chance there.

 

Being top heavy is not Kohli's fault, which players is he supposed to bring into middle order.

Rohit has shown enough that he is a sitting duck against movement. Rahul has played some tough knocks. His technique is not like hit through the line technique of Rohit. 

[Khota]

5 hours ago, Gollum said:

He should be given a guaranteed long run of 20-25 consecutive matches just like Sachin/Kohli/Rohit/Dravid/Gambhir.... in their initial years. If team management is going to judge him based on 3 innings and drop him every now and then they are doing a great disservice not only to Rahul but also to Indian cricket. By putting a short leash on Rahul you will only make him a nervous wreck and curtail his natural abilities...besides that is another sure shot way of cultivating selfishness which thankfully eludes him so far. When there is an axe perennially over a batsman's neck greater probability of him playing for stats thus ensuring prolonged selection at the cost of team's needs....a maverick like Rahul shouldn't be controlled, he should be unleashed on the opponents. 

 

From one of your earlier posts I infer that you are an old timer. In that case you must be familiar with Australia's tour of India in 1969 under Bill Lawry...their last triumph over here before 2004. The Green Park test was GR Vishwanath's debut and he got out for a 1st ball duck in the 1st dig, stones were thrown at him by a certain section of spectators during his walk back to the pavilion. He was inconsolable after that, avoiding his team mates and nervous as hell. After dinner Pataudi (captain) took him one side and told him that he needn't worry, he would get the next 9 innings to show his potential and that no one would judge him based on his initial failure, that he had greatness written all over him. Now Pats was an aloof figure who wouldn't mingle well with most people...but that stirring conversation motivated Vishy who got a 137 in the 2nd innings with 25 4s, 10 of them against the legendary McKenzie !!!! That innings brought in many Indian people into cricket, my dad who was never really into cricket those days was listening to the ball by ball commentary on radio and became a cricket fan by the end of that innings. We all know the legendary feats of the artist Vishy but remember the role Pataudi played in getting the best out of him. Pataudi was a great thinker of the game and he wasn't a proponent of the leash theory.

Let me qualify my remark. Just not Rahul I would keep everyone on a short leash. That includes Captain Kohli too. Spot on a team is not a right it is more of a privilige.  I would not give more than few chances to anyone. If you fail in two inning I will sit you out the next one and bring you back after that. There is no way in this day age and time anyone should be gauranteed 3 matches let alone 24 to 30. If this courtesy was extended to Sachin etc. it was wrong then and is wrong now.

 

Now let us not compare Rahul with Vishwanath. I think long term Rahul has more upside but Vishwanath was real good too. His scoring a century against lawry's team was a masterpiece which had an attack of McKenzie, Stackpole stc. There were very few choices than but plenty now. Perform or perish. Benching a player is not an insult but it helps them develope.

 

There should be a competition for every spot all the time. Only reason Dhoni has improved this PSL is because lot of people like us feel Dinesh can run circles around the grandfather. I never attach myself with a player. It is all about performance.

 

I may be oldtimer or a spring chicken I think it best to hide that.

 

In short no one should get an endless rope. 

Edited June 4, 2018 by Khota

[putrevus]

9 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

Rohit has shown enough that he is a sitting duck against movement. Rahul has played some tough knocks. His technique is not like hit through the line technique of Rohit. 

Which are those tough knocks, while I understand Rahul has been given rough deal in Odis, but he has not shown that he is good in swinging conditions.

[vvvslaxman]

1 hour ago, putrevus said:

Which are those tough knocks, while I understand Rahul has been given rough deal in Odis, but he has not shown that he is good in swinging conditions.

Has he proved otherwise? That he is a sitting duck against swing?

[jusarrived]

3 hours ago, putrevus said:

Where has Rahul shown that he is capable of handling movement as an opener.Rohit and Dhawan are fine till world cup then we can reassess them. Rahul needs to come good at no4 if he wants to play in the team and I really hope he gets a chance there.

 

Being top heavy is not Kohli's fault, which players is he supposed to bring into middle order.

If you follow domestic cricket, I fact right from his u19 days you will see KL scoring where everyone else has failed. He's got this rare quality of scoring on tough pitches. 

[putrevus]

1 hour ago, jusarrived said:

If you follow domestic cricket, I fact right from his u19 days you will see KL scoring where everyone else has failed. He's got this rare quality of scoring on tough pitches. 

How come he did nothing in SA then.Rohit scored more runs than him in tests. 

[putrevus]

1 hour ago, vvvslaxman said:

Has he proved otherwise? That he is a sitting duck against swing?

Didn't he fail in tests in SA

[Gollum]

8 minutes ago, putrevus said:

How come he did nothing in SA then.Rohit scored more runs than him in tests. 

May be he was made to feel nervous by the team management? Every great batsman has struggled in initial years, even Kohli averaged less than Ashwin till 2014 end.

[Ankit_sharma03]

1 minute ago, Gollum said:

May be he was made to feel nervous by the team management? Every great batsman has struggled in initial years, even Kohli averaged less than Ashwin till 2014 end.

yes rohit had captains backing and rahul was dropped for dhawan which doent give confidence

also one faces new ball which is really tough in Sa conditions 

 this was rahul 1st Sa tour and rohit's 2nd

[putrevus]

5 minutes ago, Gollum said:

May be he was made to feel nervous by the team management? Every great batsman has struggled in initial years, even Kohli averaged less than Ashwin till 2014 end.

So he is made to feel nervous but Dhawan is not ? didn't he play more tests than Dhawan.

He is essentially a test specialist who has transformed himself into a good T20 player (very good on his part). He is very loose in his shot selection for my liking, he should have done lot better than what he actually delivered.He is his own worst enemy in my view, as a test opener he needs to less flamboyant and more sedate.

 

Dhawan unlike him has real problem against moving ball .

[VT87]

Let see where great Rahul stand in upcoming eng series . I am sure he will fail like he did in Sa

[jusarrived]

4 hours ago, putrevus said:

How come he did nothing in SA then.Rohit scored more runs than him in tests. 

Could be cos of million reasons. Couple of bad days, form or just like most players found his first SA outing tough to handle and clearly being insecure of his spot wundt have helped either. 

 

I never said he's going to score runs each and every innings, he just has the technique to do well in these conditions unlike Dhawan or Rohit. If you go by virats first series in WI and Eng, it's easy to conclude he can neither play bounce or swing, can't do that when you know the player is quality 

[jusarrived]

4 hours ago, putrevus said:

So he is made to feel nervous but Dhawan is not ? didn't he play more tests than Dhawan.

He is essentially a test specialist who has transformed himself into a good T20 player (very good on his part). He is very loose in his shot selection for my liking, he should have done lot better than what he actually delivered.He is his own worst enemy in my view, as a test opener he needs to less flamboyant and more sedate.

 

Dhawan unlike him has real problem against moving ball .

Dhawan is a proven failure, its not the first time he has failed overseas. No comparison there

[vvvslaxman]

5 hours ago, putrevus said:

Didn't he fail in tests in SA

That is hardly a failure. His position was quite uncertain. If we go by first series failure Rahul Dravid would have never played his second series in Australia. Also you have to factor in how you get out. Rohit Sharma's dismissals will give you no hope whatsoever. KL Rahul is definitely upgrade. I am willing to take chances with KL Rahul over Rohit Sharma.

[gattaca]

How many odi pitches swing these days is the question. Not even 1 %. Rohit did well on 2013 champions trophy in England. The pitches then had little movement. He failed vs South Africa and NZ when there was movement. Most World Cup matches will be flat with bounce only. Rahul is very inconsistent you don’t know if you get 10 or 80 odd. Rohit once he sets himself very tough to get him out. Comparatively rohit is still better. Rohit current form is poor but this is based on history.

[vvvslaxman]

5 hours ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

yes rohit had captains backing and rahul was dropped for dhawan which doent give confidence

also one faces new ball which is really tough in Sa conditions 

 this was rahul 1st Sa tour and rohit's 2nd

It is not like Rohit is amazing against moving ball in India. We all witnessed his glorious technique against Deepak CHahar in the opening IPL match.

[cowboysfan]

Rohit has to fail spectacularly for the next 7 months for him to be dropped.Rahul needs to stay healthy and perform when he is given the chance.

[vvvslaxman]

20 minutes ago, cowboysfan said:

Rohit has to fail spectacularly for the next 7 months for him to be dropped.Rahul needs to stay healthy and perform when he is given the chance.

Rohit will score well on and off based on who he faces and where he faces them. Don't want him to be dropped. But is it a must that he should open the innings. Either way he has to see off the first 10 overs nervously to make the most of his slow start. With a bit more positive batsman up the order India will have a better distribution of their hitting power. It is not like Rohit is a born opener. He is just a makeshift opener.  If not for against other teams, atleast against Pakistan Rohit is a sure shot failure as an opener. He is a sitting duck against Aamir.