Anybody but Rahane for Dhoni

[Texan]

Rahane is already there to replace Jaddu but Jaddu should not be replaced' date=' will play as thid spinner with Ashwin and Ojha and with only one seamer playing.[/quote'] I bet Dhoni will not pick him in the playing 11. He will give everybody a chance - even Dhawan before picking Rahane. He just seems to have a "my way or the highway" attitude towards players he does not have an interest in. I don't think Jadeja should be dropped for Rahane, but Vijay should be. 16 runs in 2 innings in his comeback match and not a great career record so far.

[rkt.india]

I bet Dhoni will not pick him in the playing 11. He will give everybody a chance - even Dhawan before picking Rahane. He just seems to have a "my way or the highway" attitude towards players he does not have an interest in. I don't think Jadeja should be dropped for Rahane, but Vijay should be. 16 runs in 2 innings in his comeback match and not a great career record so far.

But Rahane cannot play in place of Vijay because Rahane is not picked as an opener. He is picked as a middle order batsman. It is Dhawan who will replace Vijay as an opener. There are 3 openers picked Viru, Vijay and Dhawan. Rahane did not even open in Irani trophy for Mumbai. He has not opened for Mumbai in last 3-4 years and I dont want him to open.

[skindia]

Right now among openers only robin uthappa and jeevanjyot are in form

[Texan]

But Rahane cannot play in place of Vijay because Rahane is not picked as an opener. He is picked as a middle order batsman. It is Dhawan who will replace Vijay as an opener. There are 3 openers picked Viru' date=' Vijay and Dhawan. Rahane did not even open in Irani trophy for Mumbai. He has not opened for Mumbai in last 3-4 years and I dont want him to open.[/quote'] Sehwag had never opened in any first class match as far as I can remember when he was thrust in as an opener. He is now probably the second greatest opener in Indian Test history after Gavaskar. My point is that it can be extremely deflating for a player to keep sitting on the bench and watch others get into the squad afterwards and make their debut/comeback before. Rahane himself might not prefer to open, but I think it is high time he is given his due chance.

[skindia]

how about pujara as opener?

[game_changerr]

anyone who is benched looks good.....openers problem is getting worse .....really dissapointed with murli and veeru....even lyon showed better technique and grit than these

[Crookbond]

Sehwag had never opened in any first class match as far as I can remember when he was thrust in as an opener. He is now probably the second greatest opener in Indian Test history after Gavaskar. My point is that it can be extremely deflating for a player to keep sitting on the bench and watch others get into the squad afterwards and make their debut/comeback before. Rahane himself might not prefer to open, but I think it is high time he is given his due chance.

The exceptions don't become the rules. You can't go into a Test match with experiments, specially with the opening combination. Let me also remind you that Sehwag started his career in the middle order itself - only once the team was confident was he pushed up.

[BeautifulGame]

Sehwag had never opened in any first class match as far as I can remember when he was thrust in as an opener. He is now probably the second greatest opener in Indian Test history after Gavaskar. My point is that it can be extremely deflating for a player to keep sitting on the bench and watch others get into the squad afterwards and make their debut/comeback before. Rahane himself might not prefer to open, but I think it is high time he is given his due chance.

We tried that experiment with Laxman Dravid and Yuvraj.It went horribly wrong nearly ruining their careers.Just because Sehwag had success doesnt mean everyone else will have too.

[Lord]

Rahane HAS to play at Hyderabad.if we pick 4 spinners,drop Ishant n Vijay n pick Rahane n Ojha,if 3,drop Ishant n Bhajji for Rahane n Ojha

[BeautifulGame]

We should drop Vijay for Dhawan , Ishant for Rahane and Bhajji for Ohja.Kohli can easily replace Ishant as bowler.

[Texan]

We should drop Vijay for Dhawan ' date=' Ishant for Rahane and Bhajji for Ohja.Kohli can easily replace Ishant as bowler.[/quote'] We need 5 bowlers though. Ishant would not be my choice, but neither would Dinda. Now that we also have 2 all-rounders (Jadeja and Ashwin) and one bowler who can bat (B Kumar), I think we can go in with 5 batsmen and Dhoni at 6. Rahane needs to play in place of Vijay. If people think that having him open is going to ruin his career, then my answer is that keeping him on bench for so long is going to completely ruin his career by demoralizing him. It is high time the team management needs to give him a chance. If the opener's spot is available, then let him take that. He has opened in many matches for Mumbai.

[bharat297]

The thing that annoys me so much about the handling of Rahane is they say he's not an opener. He has better technique than Sehwag, Vijay, Dhawan or Gambhir (all of our "openers") and is in better form than the existing openers. So what does it matter if he's not technically an "opener"? It's not like our existing "openers" are blowing the house down atm. In any case, he bats No.3 so it's not THAT different to opening anyway. All good No.3 batsmen can open anyway because they have be prepared to come in 2nd ball.

[rkt.india]

The thing that annoys me so much about the handling of Rahane is they say he's not an opener. He has better technique than Sehwag, Vijay, Dhawan or Gambhir (all of our "openers") and is in better form than the existing openers. So what does it matter if he's not technically an "opener"? It's not like our existing "openers" are blowing the house down atm. In any case, he bats No.3 so it's not THAT different to opening anyway. All good No.3 batsmen can open anyway because they have be prepared to come in 2nd ball.

How? Finn exposed his technique pretty much. He is as poor as Vijay on front foot. He has never looked solid whenever I have seen him. He is also very limited batsman in terms of range of shots, very much like Vijay. Both are poor choices for opening slot though I wont mind him given a few chances instead of Vijay.

[Texan]

How? Finn exposed his technique pretty much. He is as poor as Vijay on front foot. He has never looked solid whenever I have seen him. He is also very limited batsman in terms of range of shots' date=' very much like Vijay. Both are poor choices for opening slot though I wont mind him given a few chances instead of Vijay.[/quote'] They pick him in ODIs and T20s and then pass a judgement. That is not his area of expertise. Look at his domestic record in List A and domestic T20s. He is an average batsman in both these formats. Don't judge him by those performances. This is the same mistake that happens again and again with our selection policies. They picked Raina and Yuvraj for tests based on limited overs performances and see how they flopped. Now, they're trying to judge Rahane by his limited overs performances. That does not seem like a fair assessment. With regards to getting bowled, he is not the first cricketer to get bowled. Even Sehwag looks clumsy when bowled through the gate. Even Sachin has been bowled that way many times. Does that make them any lesser cricketers? The guy has been in the squad for numerous series now, give him his fair chance.

[bharat297]

How? Finn exposed his technique pretty much. He is as poor as Vijay on front foot. He has never looked solid whenever I have seen him. He is also very limited batsman in terms of range of shots' date=' very much like Vijay. Both are poor choices for opening slot though I wont mind him given a few chances instead of Vijay.[/quote'] Yep not disputing that Finn exposed his technique in ODIs. But bear in mind that opening in ODIs is different from Tests. But if the selectors aren't confident in his technique then they should say that. Because if he has technical flaws, keeping him in the squad as a middle-order batsman who never plays a match doesn't help him.

[rkt.india]

Yep not disputing that Finn exposed his technique in ODIs. But bear in mind that opening in ODIs is different from Tests. But if the selectors aren't confident in his technique then they should say that. Because if he has technical flaws, keeping him in the squad as a middle-order batsman who never plays a match doesn't help him.

But the way he got out in ODIs, he can get out that way in tests too because he got out trying to defend which showed his not as solid as he should be in defense which is must for a good test batsman. It was his footwork which was lacking and this has always been the case with him, not just now. He mostly plays from back foot.

[rkt.india]

The guy has been in the squad for numerous series now, give him his fair chance.

That is what I said above he should at least get a chance to fail or succeed in place of Vijay.

[kubrickian]

Yep not disputing that Finn exposed his technique in ODIs. But bear in mind that opening in ODIs is different from Tests. But if the selectors aren't confident in his technique then they should say that. Because if he has technical flaws, keeping him in the squad as a middle-order batsman who never plays a match doesn't help him.

But the point is you keep saying he has better technique than other openers. Where have you seen him displaying that good technique ? If he had good technique and temperament, he wouldnt look so clueless against Finn in ODIs. He would at least be able to survive against him and that too on a flat track. I also remember you defended Rohit Sharma just because he has a good record in FC. You need to realize our FC records dont mean jack. Most of the games are played on super flat tracks against mediocre bowling attacks. Even Jadeja has 50+ average in FC. Did you see the way he batted the other day against Pattinson on a dead pitch for seamers ? Even B Kumar was better than him.

[bharat297]

But the point is you keep saying he has better technique than other openers. Where have you seen him displaying that good technique ? If he had good technique and temperament, he wouldnt look so clueless against Finn in ODIs. He would at least be able to survive against him and that too on a flat track. I also remember you defended Rohit Sharma just because he has a good record in FC. You need to realize our FC records dont mean jack. Most of the games are played on super flat tracks against mediocre bowling attacks. Even Jadeja has 50+ average in FC. Did you see the way he batted the other day against Pattinson on a dead pitch for seamers ? Even B Kumar was better than him.

Ok with Rahane I admit he showed poor technique against Finn but how many times have we seen Sehwag display poor technique against swing bowling in the past 2 years? What about Vijay against Pattinson in the first innings? Dhawan has pretty ordinary technique too. My point is ... The selectors are sending him mixed signals. If his technique is poor it's going to be exposed in the middle order too. If they are that concerned about an openers technique then they wouldn't pick Sehwag and Vijay and leave Rahane in the dressingroom as a middle-order batsman. Sitting in the change-rooms as a middle-order batsman wont help him. Regarding Rohit Sharma, he has scored runs against quality bowling on away surfaces as well, so it's not simply a question of his record. His technique is there for everyone to see and almost every single former player or commentator that comments on him comments on his strong technique (not just 1 or 2 ... pretty much every single one). Rohit's problem has been temperament. He hasn't shown the temperament of Kohli or Pujara to go on with it. But if you keep playing him in ODIs (which isn't the best format to improve temperament) and immediately discard all his hard work in domestic cricket, then there is no chance for him to show that he can play Test cricket. What is Rohit Sharma supposed to do to prove to the selectors that he can play Test cricket? He doesn't get picked for away tours. He keeps smashing out runs in all tournaments in domestic cricket (even in the A match against Australia) but because he fails in ODIs he's discarded as a Test cricketer.

[Marut]

Let this be a last opportunity for Vijay to prove himself. Vijay wasn't bad to begin with, though after he hit that blitz hundred in the IPL, he has lost his way in the longer format, and he may be able to discover the touch again, with some adjustments.