Rahane : Maaaan what class!

[Mr. Wicket]

Ajinkya Rahane just produced his highest f/c score to date, 201 in the second innings on a difficult batting pitch v. Orissa. Yes, it may be Orissa (who still do have a pretty decent new ball attack w/ Mohanty), but this is a track where three of four innings ended at under 200 runs, and only 5 people total in the match ended up making it past 50. Rahane was lone centurion, and ended up making 201 out of a total of 361. That too, 201 in 244 balls. This takes his career record to 7 hundreds in 19 matches (and 8 fifties to go alongside). His f/c average is now in the mid 60s. India will not have to look very hard for their next number 3 whenever Dravid chooses to hang his boots up.

[guju24]

^ pujara is waiting for since last season lol...but since rahane is from bombay his got more chance u knw politics in selection committee

[Cricketics]

surely i was impressed from Rahane way back. this is just another great performance from him. hope he continuez this way and be a solid middle order bat, and and and .... give a piece of his mind to Sharma on how to bat with good amount of patience... which i think sharma is easily lacking

[Mr. Wicket]

^ pujara is waiting for since last season lol...but since rahane is from bombay his got more chance u knw politics in selection committee

What bullsh-t. Rahane's been making runs the last couple of years, he had an excellent debut season last year (with many people not even taking into account his debut f/c hundred in Karachi), scored runs on the A-team circuit, and was one of the dominant stars of the U19 team earlier along with Tanmay Srivastava. Pujara's had his chances and has also done well - neither yet has earned a call up (both deserve them), but the difference w/ Rahane is that I'd back him more to score in all conditions - whereas Pujara's phenomenal on flat tracks like Rajkot but hasn't shown quite the same consistency on all wickets. Ticz - you reckon he could be material for the 'Bloody Legendz' tag? :)

[Cricketics]

Ticz - you reckon he could be material for the 'Bloody Legendz' tag? :)

sure sure, i have always been praising this guy. i have seen him bat couple of times and he looks class player and would be an ideal replacement. but he needs to be played regularly in those Board president x1 teams and stuff

[RockStar]

This guy is a Legend in the making.... scores 87 off just 57 ( inlc. 17 hits to the boundary) Scorecard - http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ranjisuperleague2008/engine/current/match/368278.html

Mumbai maintained their supremacy, thrashing Punjab by nine wickets in their final match of the group stage. Ajinkya Rahane and Wasim Jaffer swiftly overhauled the target of 149 before the stroke of lunch on the final day. Rahane added an unbeaten 82, to go along with his first-innings 80, and combined well with his captain as the undefeated 130-run second-wicket partnership extinguished Punjab's hopes.

Full report - http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/ranjisuperleague2008/content/current/story/383677.html

[Holysmoke]

Watch out Murali Vijay.

[Lord]

iu have heard a lot about him but never seen him.does he have a good technique and all.and how does he fare against quickies/spinners?

[Show_stopper]

Has anyone seen him batting? Or is this based solely on stats? To those who have seen them batting..among Rahane,Pujara,Murali Vijay,if you had to choose one who would it be?

[amits]

rahane should replace rohit sharma as the mumbai player in the indian team

[Show_stopper]

rahane should replace rohit sharma as the mumbai player in the indian team

:blink: don't tell me you don't rate Rohit Sharma now? The guy is pure class.Lets give him some time.

[amits]

rohit sharma is the most overrated & overhyped player ever to play for india. has a poor batting avg of 24 in odis & a avg strike-rate. players have been dropped from odis despite having far better avgs & strike-rates than the useless rohit sharma. and if the selectors r so keen to have a mumbai player besides tendulkar in odis, then they should pick rahane over rohit sharma. and rohit sharma isnt a classy player. he just hits 1-2 good looking 4s & then gets out

[Shane]

rohit sharma is the most overrated & overhyped player ever to play for india. has a poor batting avg of 24 in odis & a avg strike-rate. players have been dropped from odis despite having far better avgs & strike-rates than the useless rohit sharma. and if the selectors r so keen to have a mumbai player besides tendulkar in odis' date=' then they should pick rahane over rohit sharma. and rohit sharma isnt a classy player. he just hits 1-2 good looking 4s & then gets out[/quote'] Dhawan > Rahane, Rohit ???

[Show_stopper]

Ok i have just seen some highlights of Challenger trophy..from what i saw. Murali Vijay>Pujara>Rahane. But Rahane is still young,so he has plenty of time to improve.He isn't ready yet for International cricket. This is often the case..an average of 50+ in Indian FC cricket just doesn't guarentee success at the International level.Infact its quite possible for average players to have those sort of figures.Badrinath is another such example. Regarding Rohit..someday you'll have to eat those words Amit.

[amits]

murali vijay, pujara & rahane r all better than rohit sharma. and i will never have to eat my words about rohit sharma. even uthappa is better than rohit sharma. its u guys who will have to eat the words about rohit sharma and as for the comparision pujara > murali vijay > rahane >>>>>>>>> rohit sharma

[Shane]

murali vijay, pujara & rahane r all better than rohit sharma. and i will never have to eat my words about rohit sharma. even uthappa is better than rohit sharma. its u guys who will have to eat the words about rohit sharma and as for the comparision pujara > murali vijay > rahane >>>>>>>>> rohit sharma

Dhawan ??? Where does he rank dude ???

[Sooda]

The younger guys like Rahane, Kohli, Pujara need at least two seasons in the Ranjis before they should be considered for India IMHO. The second season is when bowlers figure you out and come with a plan of how to bowl at you and its how these guys deal with that is what will hold them in good stead. Thats why people like Badri and Kaif should be higher up in the pecking order for me, consistency over a longer period of time.

[Kartikey]

Guys like Srivastava, Rahane and Pujara should be given a chance in the ODI team. We dont need Sharma in the team, he's very very over-rated.

[bharat297]

amits has made up his mind on rohit sharma when the kid is just 21 years of age ... yes there is politics in the selection but ... stats aside ... rohit sharma is the best young batsman (skill wise) to have come out of india since probably sehwag. now its not just indians from mumbai that are saying that ... guys like ian chappell, geoffrey boycott, adam gilchrist and many other cricket analysts have already pegged this guy as being a very very special cricketer. amits, are they all part of the pro-Mumbai , anti-Delhi Indian politics that you keep ranting about ... or amits, do you just know more about cricket than these guys? why do you think these guys all believe rohit sharma has got incredible talent and you dont? the guy oozes talent ... like i have said many times ... ive never seen any batsman (since tendulkar) seem to have so much time to play his strokes. now ... there is a chance that this guy could make nothing out of his career (which would ONLY be because he was too lazy), however if the guy does fulfill his potential ... then believe me this guy will be our best batsman and he would have earnt that spot because he had the talent.

[bharat297]

Also amits ... if you are so keen to notice stats for batsman so young ... here's a comparison of Rohit vs Dhawan. First-class Sharma: 25 matches, 1518 runs @ 43.37 Dhawan: 40 matches, 2597 runs @ 42.57 List-A Sharma: 73 matches, 1914 runs @ 33.57, SR: 82.07 (including ODIs) 41 matches, 1321 runs @ 40.03, SR: 86.62 (excluding ODIs) Dhawan: 47 matches, 1835 runs @ 45.87, SR: 81.01 Twenty-20 Sharma: 27 matches, 752 runs @ 41.77, SR: 146.30 Dhawan: 19 matches, 436 runs @ 31.14, SR: 112.66 Now, if you look at these stats ... there is not too much between these 2 players. They are both good players. Add to this the fact that Rohit Sharma has played a few pretty good knocks under real pressure (such as the T20 world cup final, or the CB series final). Now, amits, I am not trying to put down Dhawan. From what I saw of him in the IPL he seems to be very good technically and is a good strokemaker. He is a talented cricketer, no doubt. Its just the way you speak of Dhawan is as if he has scored mountains of runs domestically (in Badri-esque fashion) and keeps getting overlooked while Rohit Sharma has done nothing. I am merely trying to show that domestically they have had similar records. Dhawans only real taste of International bowlers was in the IPL and in my opinion, Rohit Sharma outperformed him in the IPL (only just). The main thing to note is that Indian selectors are trying to give young players a chance. To do this, you have to identify their ability (what strokes they can play, their technique, temperament, etc.) and then give them an extended run in international cricket. If you pick a youngster and then after a year start pointing out their stats as a defence to drop them then you're not really building for the future. Stats arent the be all and end all ... Ishant Sharma's bowling statistics arent that impressive.