Is Rohit Sharma more suited to tests?

[sarcastic]

Not lying' date=' but he would be [b']hoping that either Rohit gets ignored by the selectors and if he is selected, he fails miserably. The spot is up for grabs and with Yuvraj's performance in the WC, it gets even more tighter.

That's what I said by lying..> Hoping something and saying something else!!!!

[Cricket Tragic]

Raina now jumps on the Rohit bandwagon

:cantstop: Maybe Raina has been reading your posts? :hmmm:

[sarcastic]

'Rohit Sharma is one for the future' - Wasim Akram ESPNSTAR.com columnist Wasim Akram says Badrinath, Dhawan and Patel failed to utilize their opportunities in the ODIs. The fact that Rahul Dravid is completing 15 years of Test cricket at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica only strengthens the belief that the fittest survive in this amazing game. Men like Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman are true legends. They have lasted because of their discipline and of course, their eagerness to perform at every available stage. India may have won the ODI series 3-2 against a new-look West Indian side, but I don't think the selectors will be happy with the performance of some of the fringe players who made the ODI squad because a clutch of seniors were unavailable. I believe players like Badrinath, Shikhar Dhawan, Parthiv Patel and Manoj Tiwari made the ODI squad on the strength of their domestic performance and of course, the IPL. But I doubt they have been able to grab the opportunities they got in the Caribbean. Indian cricket is full of talented players and an opportunity wasted means you may never wear the national cap again. At the same time, any international assignment is a test of your ability. The West Indies team may not have looked great on paper but they did well to reduce the victory margin. I had always believed in Rohit Sharma. He has loads of talent and this time he proved himself in the West Indies. By becoming the Man of the Series, Rohit has only improved his chances to become a regular member of the national team. Now, he should focus on playing Test cricket and if Rohit has to compete with the likes of Kohli and Raina, consistent performance is the only way forward. Raina's captaincy was promising. It's not easy to lead a team against any opposition but he would have learnt from the mistakes made during the ODI series. The Indian selectors must be appreciated because they are grooming a youngster to lead India in the future. MS Dhoni will have his first-choice team for the Test matches. The Indians must make the most of the three Tests. West Indies doesn't produce those deadly tracks any more and India must bat long on these slow turning wickets. I am sure Dravid and Laxman will score a few big hundreds in what will surely be their last tour of the Caribbean. It may not be the best of preparations, the Test matches against the West Indies will be good warm up to the series against England. Although the conditions in England will be hugely different, India must play the Caribbean bowlers, especially the quickies, well. England's true ability at their backyard is there to see. The Lankans have struggled and even their best batsmen have failed to come good in seaming and swinging conditions. Dhoni and Team must watch out! (Former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram is an ESPN-STAR Sports expert) Source: http://www.espnstar.com/editorial/news/detail/item633412/%27Rohit-Sharma-is-one-for-the-future%27/

[Temujin Khaghan]

Raina now jumps on the Rohit bandwagon

so raina's fans are also rohit's fans now :nervous:

[ravishingravi]

Rain should not be in test squad. God forbids he does well here, I shudder to think of him playing in England based on his SA performance

[ravishingravi]

Raina should not be in test squad. God forbid he does well here' date=' I shudder to think of him playing in England based on his SA performance[/quote']

[achilles]

Wonder what Raina will say if Rohit ever makes it at his cost :hmmm:

[Ultimate_Game]

:hmmm: Are you wondering if Raina is lying in front of the media?

I wouldn't call it lying... it's more a case of being politically correct and it happens all the time. For example when Mike Hussey was left out of the Aussie world cup squad initially the backup player said he was "disappointed and gutted" for Hussey even though he got in coz of Hussey :) Same is true for any English, SA or kiwi team. And what else could Raina say? That he was hoping Rohit and all other contenders including Yuvi fail big time so he can cement his place in the Test squad?

[Cricket Tragic]

Is Rohit Sharma more suited to tests?

For the last couple of years while analyzing the younger crop of players, I have always held the view that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are the two best bets for the future. They are the front runners to take over when the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman ride off into the sunset. The way to the Test ranks is via limited overs cricket and I am pleased to note that both Kohli and Rohit have made considerable progress. Kohli made his way to the World Cup squad, performed admirably and is now a certainty in the ODI side. Rohit was perhaps a bit unfortunate not to make the cut but he too is more or less a cert in the limited overs squad. If proof was needed of his class it was provided during the ODI series against West Indies. Even with the return of the established stars it will be difficult to keep Rohit out of the playing eleven. His overall figures may not compare with those of Sehwag, Yuvraj, Kohli and Gambhir but in Rohit's case it is a case of potential far outweighing performance. In racing parlance he is a stayer and not a sprinter. As Ian Chappell observed recently when he first saw Rohit play ODIs in Australia in 2008 he concluded that he was the best of the young Indian batsmen. "It's hard to fathom that three years later he still hasn't played a Test and his talent is in danger of being under-utilized," observed the former Australian captain. Chappell is not given to hyperbole and for him to predict a "huge future" for Rohit is quite something. But then in some prodigiously talented youngsters it is not the scores but the approach to batting that is the subject of discussion and it is here that Rohit has come up trumps. Anyone who sees Rohit make 30 or 40 is immediately aware of the fact that he is watching a player of uncommon gifts - a player who combines substance with style. Even in slam bang cricket his batting is an ideal blend of the solid and the spectacular. There is a place for defence, for circumspection even in ODIs and Rohit displays impeccable technique. His strokes can be straight from the textbook or of the innovative variety. For one so young he has shown remarkable control and confidence in his batting approach. In the just concluded ODI series against West Indies Rohit shrugged off the crisis situations time and again remaining cool, calm and unhurried. He adopted a methodical approach, farmed the strike adroitly and took upon the responsibility of playing the anchor role to perfection. Not once, but twice he steered India through a critical situation to victory and added a third half century in the final game. Such feats can only be performed by a young cricketer with a mature head on his shoulders. The point to note is that however commendable Rohit's credentials are in limited overs cricket is he more perfectly cut out for the game's traditional format? These days of course you have to be successful in all formats of the game but some players are so classical in their stroke play, so correct in their approach and so water tight in their technique that they seem tailor made for Test cricket. However impressive the ODI records of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman are their names will indissolubly be linked more with Test cricket. Is Rohit made the same way? After all the fact remains that he has a first class average of almost 61 with ten centuries in 43 matches, an unbeaten triple century and the feat of a century in each innings in a Ranji Trophy, something that only four players have achieved before him and one of them is Sachin Tendulkar. Rohit is the latest graduate from the Bombay school of batting which is based on big scores and an insatiable appetite for runs. So is he more a specialist Test batsman with his technical excellence, his text book driving and cutting, his chiseled stroke play, the ideal temperament for the longer version of the game along with his natural qualities of dedication, determination and concentration? Perhaps the longer version is where Rohit's destiny towards greatness lies and the sooner he is given the break the better. In the meantime Rohit will continue to notch up many more valuable scores in limited overs cricket before he makes the inevitable transition to the Test arena. He is not one to rest on his laurels. But as I said more than the runs it will continue to be his batting style that will garner particular attention http://cricket.yahoo.com/columns/partabramchand/311/311partabramchand

His List A and FC records might tell a story. He is not very good at pacing an ODI innings.

[Pagalpanti]

Honestly an average of 50-60 in Indian fc means 30-40 abroad. So I wouldn't go to much into it because of the quality of bowlers in Indian domestic cricket + the pitches. All are roads, no wonder you see many batsman averaging 50+ in domestic cricket. But Rohit has shown he has quality to become a big match player. T20 Wcup Innings against SA, CB series final, WI series. He has shown he can score when it matters, so he will surely develop into a good test player. Ideally it would have been better for him to play this series but I don't think it'd be right to bring him in directly for England series.

[Cricketics]

Not very good at pacing the odi innings?? WHAT?? He consistently performs well in twenty20. So offcourse he can pace the innigns as he has shown before too. Hard to imagine someone can think like that.

[cowboysfan]

most of his dismissals in odis happen when he is trying to force the pace after dicking around aimlessly for some time.I completely agree with this article,he should more at ease in test cricket where he can take his sweet time to score runs without pressure.

[Yoda-esque]

most of his dismissals in odis happen when he is trying to force the pace after dicking around aimlessly for some time.I completely agree with this article' date='he should more at ease in test cricket where he can take his sweet time to score runs without pressure.[/quote'] Yeps..Hes made for test cricket.Fluid style,technically sound,loads of time....get him in!!!!

[jusarrived]

Honestly an average of 50-60 in Indian fc means 30-40 abroad. So I wouldn't go to much into it because of the quality of bowlers in Indian domestic cricket + the pitches. All are roads, no wonder you see many batsman averaging 50+ in domestic cricket. But Rohit has shown he has quality to become a big match player. T20 Wcup Innings against SA, CB series final, WI series. He has shown he can score when it matters, so he will surely develop into a good test player. Ideally it would have been better for him to play this series but I don't think it'd be right to bring him in directly for England series.

utter nonsense , shouldnt the likes of Tenddulkar & Dravid be avgn ~100 by that logic ?

[jusarrived]

as for OP , Rohit is test class agreed , but not cos hes struggled in ODI's ...He can do well in ODI's too .

[gakgupta]

Since, we don't have quality back-up openers, we can certainly use him for that. Never know...give it a try...if doesn't work out, then make him wait for some more time until our greats retire...It's something good to try...

[IKnowU]

I dont get where people are getting the idea of letting Rohit open the batting in any form He looks like a solid #4 to 5 batsmen.

[Cricket Tragic]

Since' date= we don't have quality back-up openers, we can certainly use him for that. Never know...give it a try...if doesn't work out, then make him wait for some more time until our greats retire...It's something good to try...

:omg:

[jairamesh]

tbh didn't bother reading the article. But I honestly think Rohit Sharma future lies as Test opener. His ability to play the quicks and punishing short stuff makes him the ideal candidate. He also the closet player how can emulate Sehwag's game to some degree as a Test opener. Imo Rohit is also a better puller and hooker than Sehwag.

[Temujin Khaghan]

Difficult to find place in star-studded Test team: Rohit (with cipher) "Right now there is only one place in the top seven available. Rest all is covered. There are about four-five players competing for the same spot. So it is a little bit difficult (to make it to Test team). But ultimately my aim is to be a good Test player," the 24-year-old batsman said. While he did not take any names, he was apparently referring to the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Chesteshwar Pujara and himself. Sharma, who narrowly lost out a chance to make his debut in the longer version of the game against South Africa at Nagpur due to a freak injury just before toss while playing football in 2010, said it was a huge disappointment for him... by not representing the country. "It was a big disappointment. You can't predict about injuries. Injuries are not in your hand. It can happen anytime. Like it happened with Zaheer (Khan) in the first Test (at Lord's). It was very unfortunate." "It (my career) would have been different had I scored runs in that match. Let's just say I will need to be a more mature player(like me) when I make for my Test debut. It's not about when you play your first Test match, it is how mature you are when you do that," said the batsman, who has scored 1,505 runs in 66 ODIs. Sharma, player of the tournament in the just concluded five-match ODI series in the Caribbean, said he had started practicing for ODI leg of the ongoing England tour, for which he is expected to be selected. "I have been working on my batting as of now. I have been practising at the BKC premises (in Mumbai) and am working on a few strokes. In England, the conditions will be difficult to tackle. There will be bounce and swing. Luckily, we have two-three practice matches before the one-day matches. Hopefully, I will acclimatise soon," said Sharma. He had scored 257 runs in five matches, including an unbeaten 86 in a difficult chase at Antigua in the third ODI, to help India secure a 3-2 win. Sharma expressed confidence said that the Indian squad, which lost the first Test against England at Lord's by 196 runs, will bounce back, and said the No 1 team could take inspiration from its 2010 tour to South Africa where they fought back after a similar loss in the opening match. "I'm sure India will bounce back. The next Test is at Trent Bridge where we won the last time around with Zaheer picking up about 4-5 wickets in each innings. Though he may not be around we have got quite a few other good bowlers." "There is no doubt about India's batsmen. They must have acclimatised by now. They didn't have many practice games (before the first Test) and England bowlers also bowled very well." "If you look at India's tour of South Africa, India lost the first Test (at Centurion) and won in Durban and almost won the series. Conditions are similar in both places. I'm sure India will do well here too," he said. Stating that not being part of the World Cup winning side was the biggest disappointment of his life, Sharma said missing out on the mega-tournament gave him time to work on his skills and fitness. "It was the biggest disappointment for me. It has gone now. India have won the World Cup. It's not the end of the world for me. I have to move forward. "(The omission) It also helped me in a lot of ways as I got time to work on my skills and fitness which showed during the IPL and the West Indies tour," he added. Stating that scoring runs in the West Indies was satisfying, the right-handed batsman said playing in the Indian Premier League helped him adjust to the conditions. "It was very satisfying. I was very much looking forward to the West Indies tour after IPL. It was important that youngsters took the responsibility as many senior players were rested. And we did well to win the ODI as well as the Test series." "The conditions (in the West Indies) were similar to what we had here. I would like to mention that playing in the IPL in the hot conditions too helped as the weather was similar there," he said. On being in and out of the team in the past, Sharma said, "It was a difficult phase. Every cricketer has to go through that. I'm not special. I have learnt a lot from that phase. Having said that I don't want to let go off the opportunities I get." He also added that playing with his role-model Sachin Tendulkar for MI was a very enriching experience. Rohit, who is looking to bury his party-boy image is looking forward to the England ODI series. ============ http://sports.ndtv.com/ind-eng-2011/news/item/176442-difficult-to-find-place-in-star-studded-test-team-rohit