Time to get serious

[The Outsider]

^Lol prof you mentioned Manish Pandey...LOL

Well, he has more than a thousand runs in last year's Ranji and already has more than 500 this year. Haven't seen him bat in the longer format much, but can't rule him out with that kind of record.

[kabira]

^LOL, yes he has potential...but you just thrashed him based on one IPL innings. LOL

[OriginalCopy]

^Lol prof you mentioned Manish Pandey...LOL

We'll never know unless we try him out. He has shown good potential for sure. Never a good idea to reject someone without a thought; if he doesn't perform he'll be out anyways.

[vamos_rafa]

Picking Raina ahead of Pujara for this test was a mistake. I know its only day 1 but every player has a limitation. You will have to select your team based upon the kind of surface you are going to play. Wasn't it just when on a seaming track Dada used to pick bhajji ahead of Kumble or vice-versa? Or on a spinning track we would play with 2 spinners? The same logic applies here. Raina struggled big time against the likes of Chris Martin in India. He has been sorted out. He needs to go back to the drawing board and hone his skills. On these conditions somebody like a Pujara has MORE chances of doing well. I am not trying to suggest that Raina is inferior to CP or CP would have set the house on fire. But your team is selected on the basis of who can potentially do better on a given set of conditions. If your bowlers are selected that way then why not the batsmen?

[ravishingravi]

The issue with Raina is more serious than this one perfomance. He is just not good enough at the highest level and has some serious technical issues on the "non patta" wickets. I think India has to think about Pujara, Kohli, Vijay or Rohit and groom them. Ind. does not have embarassment of riches in batting as some claim. Ind. has to go with whoever can make the transition to test level.

[The Dark Horse]

The selectors just want to please the masses. By taking Yuvi/Raina on ODI record instead of Badri/Pujara/Rahane, noone is going to ask them 'why did they pick him'. That said I hope Raina comes good in the 2nd innings.

[jf1gp_1]

India has traditionally been a great batting side mostly built around sound technique and temperament. They have to stop picking players from ODI squads and start picking players based on domestic performances. First Kaif was a failure in Test. Then yuvraj. Now Raina.All picked from ODI sides. Time to reward domestic performers. If India has any wish to find able replacements for our middle order they have to get really tough on selection. We are never going to become bowling powerhouse. That is a given. So time to build a strong line up for the future.

Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Laxman, Dhoni have all been selected based on domestic performance. Raina made it back to ODI side based on domestic performance and had a great first few test.

[rkt.india]

Test cricket is not made for Raina until improve his habits while batting....There was nothing in the delivery he got out...he should have left that easily....he tries to play every ball instead of leaving low percentage deliveries outside of stump and play with soft hands..

[vamos_rafa]

Test cricket is not made for Raina until improve his habits while batting....There was nothing in the delivery he got out...he should have left that easily....he tries to play every ball instead of leaving low percentage deliveries outside of stump and play with soft hands..

Also the way he is hopping in the crease before every delivery is bowled. Its like he's expecting every delivery to be a short pitch one. Ironically its the fuller one's that get him. A very old trick used by fast bowlers round the world. I think he needs to look at the way dada handled it specially after coming back. He had an obvious weakness against it but he was always ready to guts it out in the middle. Raina, at times looks short on patience as well.

[rkt.india]

Also the way he is hopping in the crease before every delivery is bowled. Its like he's expecting every delivery to be a short pitch one. Ironically its the fuller one's that get him. A very old trick used by fast bowlers round the world. I think he needs to look at the way dada handled it specially after coming back. He had an obvious weakness against it but he was always ready to guts it out in the middle. Raina, at times looks short on patience as well.

yeah..habit of jumping on every ball is not gonna help him too...he needs to stay still to have a closer look at the ball...he does not need to play every short ball...leave them...

[vvvslaxman]

Time to differentiate between ODIs and Tests 1) ODIs have 10 over limit for a bowler. 2) By the time guys like Raina walks in best bowlers would have finished best part of their spells 3) Pitches are flat 4) Power play 5) Bouncer restrictions 6) Wide restrictions We got everything that restricts bowler's full ability in ODIs. 7) Free hit 8)

[fineleg]

Time to differentiate between ODIs and Tests 1) ODIs have 10 over limit for a bowler. 2) By the time guys like Raina walks in best bowlers would have finished best part of their spells 3) Pitches are flat 4) Power play 5) Bouncer restrictions 6) Wide restrictions We got everything that restricts bowler's full ability in ODIs. 7) Free hit 8)

Add to it: - Second new ball in Test matches - so a (lower)middle batsman can walk in and may have to pacers with a new cherry in hand in Test match situation. Hence you need right technique, mental strength, grit and determination etc like a VVS Laxman or Ian Bell/Collingwood etc. - A wearing pitch in 2nd Innings - uneven bounce, ball keeping low etc. - Far more attacking field placements - If you come in as a batsman, you may be tired after having fielded most of the past 2 days in the field. Thats not so much in ODIs. You need to force yourself to be ALERT! Test cricket is the ultimate test of skills, endurance and mental strength/grit. Nothing comes close. Unfortunately people like transparent keep hyping up the ODIs and T20, and even holysmoke baba thinks the ODI win in 2011 will give the more 'glory' than the Test series win in SA. It will be so much more satisfying *and* glorious if we had won the series in SA (we technically still can, but it is proving to be darn darn darn tough! to even win a SINGLE test - thats Test cricket in its hostile environment of SA!)

[Silva]

Excellent points being made. U need to be a good player of spin and pace in order to play at number 5 or 6 in internation cricket. This nonsense about playing a limited overs specialist at number 6 because that spot is supposodly easier to bat on is the reason we wasted so much time on yuvi and now raina rather than playing players who have the talent and have shown they have good tempermant in first class cricket. Bottom line is stop drafting players into test cricket based on limited overs performances!!!!!

[fineleg]

You can use the ODIs as a platform to see them against Intl opposition. But it should be only ONE of the things - they do need to judge overall skills,, abilities, and so the importance of India-A tours to countries like SA, Eng, Aus, NZ. And improve the quality of domestic competition, pitches in India too.