Tests: Does Raina have it in him to be successful in SA?

[gaurav92]

I hope he is well prepared :)

[King Tendulkar]

Why not. He did well against lankans and see no reason why wont do well against saffies. Yes diff pitches blah blah. Same was said about galitiocs as well and they stuffed these sterotypes were sun dont shine. I am backing raina to be the man until proven otherwise.

[saneindian]

Like GM pointed out, Raina has grabbed his chances. But he's got chances to grab. Che hasn't got his yet. Raina is a case of fast-tracking a young player with a major flaw in his technique and we all know how risky it is. All I'm saying is that if we are giving caps to prepare a player for the future, why not give Che his chance.

Have got nothing againt Pujara, but he has not been able to grab the chances on big stage (playing for West Zone/India A). The first time he has done well for India A was on the recent tour of England. Before that in around 15 matches in Duleep Trophy/ playing for India A, he had scored 1 100 and around 500+ runs at an average of 30. Also out of all his runs, he has scored half his runs on the flatbeds at Rajkot. It's in the last 9-12 months when he has really come into his own and has started to do well everywhere. So hopefully all the time spent playing domestic cricket will help him come into international cricket as better batsman and someone who could play for 10-12 years. On fast tracking Raina, well he had a very good season in 2005 in Ranji and then IIRC hit 2 100s in the Deodhar Trophy , fielded brilliantly and impressed everyone with his stroke play. Then a good knock vs the Pakistanis on that 2005 tour playing for India A sealed a ODI spot for him.

[ravishingravi]

I am impressed with the hard work he has put in to sort his technique, but there issues. But he is a tough cookie.

[cowboysfan]

i really dont think so but we have to play him.Raina will either cement his position in this series or we will looking for another middle order bat (we have some capable ones ready to go too).

[ina_jawaan]

No chance - he will make Michael Bevan look like a competent conductor of chin music.

[ZodiaC]

I don't think so either, but I have a gut feeling he's gonna prove us all wrong. Hope that is the case.

What was Dada's average in SA??

36.14

[kabira]

I don't think so either, but I have a gut feeling he's gonna prove us all wrong. Hope that is the case. 36.14

well if Raina performs and keeps avg. around 30-35, he should have done his job. I am worried about Sehwag, Be rest assured Saffers will bring out green wickets. So this will be the case. If they win the first test, 2nd and 3rd will be flat pitches.

[Sachinism]

If our bowlers come to the party on green wickets SA will be in trouble while batting as well.

[zen]

well if Raina performs and keeps avg. around 30-35, he should have done his job. I am worried about Sehwag, Be rest assured Saffers will bring out green wickets. So this will be the case. If they win the first test, 2nd and 3rd will be flat pitches.

If Viru is in form, then the pitch/condition goes out of the equation

[kabira]

^it does not take long to lose your confidence. One bad decision, couple of low scores and you start having doubts. So good start is very important. I think they have ODI series before Tests. so thats good thing for Sehwag

[zen]

^it does not take long to lose your confidence. One bad decision' date= couple of low scores and you start having doubts. So good start is very important.I think they have ODI series before Tests. so thats good thing for Sehwag

Ok, but that could happen irrespective of the conditions .... I would back Sehwag to deliver against SA, not only with the bat but with the ball too

[kabira]

^yes but more likely to happen in the conditions where new ball surely moves around.

[maverick.rules]

I dont think he will do well in SA. I hope he does the hard work required in the nets and prove me wrong...

[ZodiaC]

well if Raina performs and keeps avg. around 30-35, he should have done his job. I am worried about Sehwag, Be rest assured Saffers will bring out green wickets. So this will be the case. If they win the first test, 2nd and 3rd will be flat pitches.

But I guess SA wickets are much flatter than it used to be, so expecting them all perform a lot better with a godly century :--D

[ravishingravi]

But I guess SA wickets are much flatter than it used to be' date=' so expecting them all perform a lot better with a godly century :--D[/quote'] Absolutely right

[achilles]

Raina pwned by a 80Mph bouncer. :hysterical: Seems like GM needs ask to his coach to write a good report for him :hehe:

[zen]

In the game against Central Districts, which is on right now:

Milne to Raina, OUT, Sweet As! Bouncer, bouncer, bouncer, and Raina is gone. CD on fire here. It was obvious Raina wasn't going to get anything in his half after that gentle boundary first ball. This one is slightly shorter and it bounces at him, Raina looks to drop his wrists but the ball gets the glove on the way to first slip SK Raina c Diamanti b Milne 4 (4b 1x4 0x6) SR: 100.00

Again Raina looked clueless against bouncers, and made Milne look so good. Also don't agree with having Raina at 3, esp when the pitch isn't flat. He is more suited to positions #5 or below (definitely not higher than #4) My hopes of Raina improving his technique quickly to cope against SA bowlers in SA is fading :((

[achilles]

In the game against Central Districts, which is on right now: Again Raina looked clueless against bouncers, and made Milne look so good. Also don't agree with having Raina at 3, esp when the pitch isn't flat. He is more suited to positions #5 or below (definitely not higher than #4) My hopes of Raina improving his technique quickly to cope against SA bowlers in SA is fading :((

What dope are you on, brah? Ask GM... Raina is the right choice and he is going to decimate the Saffers on these pitches.

[zen]

What dope are you on' date=' brah? Ask GM... Raina is the right choice and he is going to decimate the Saffers on these pitches.[/quote'] I understand that in tests, Raina is not required to score of the bouncers, which is what he was trying to do here too, i.e. survive, but his basic technique against short pitched stuff is poor SOS to team management/coach/BCCI: help Raina improve his technique before he gets slotted amongst the likes of Bevan, Kambli and company. This is so imp that Raina should even consider taking a couple of months off to sort this out