Anybody but Rahane for Dhoni

[yoda]

Why should Rahane be preferred over regular FC openers? He is still getting his chances in ODIs and needs to prove himself there first. Don't think he is a Pujara type player tailor made just for tests.

[Texan]

Rahane is probably close to some sort of record. He has now been on the bench for 15 Test matches in a row. Starting with WI tour of India in late 2011 - 3 Tests India in Australia - 4 Tests NZ in India - 2 Tests England in India - 4 Tests Aus in India - 2 Tests so far. I can bet he won't play in the next 2 Tests also. So, at the end of the series, he would have gone 17 Tests in the squad without being picked in the XI. Congrats Dhoni, this probably is a record!

[Texan]

Why should Rahane be preferred over regular FC openers? He is still getting his chances in ODIs and needs to prove himself there first. Don't think he is a Pujara type player tailor made just for tests.

Absolutely. Why not IPL??? Let him prove himself in IPL and then pick a Test team from the best IPL players.... perfect strategy!

[Subeshkumar]

i think dhoni has got biased now a days with his attitude towards the players selections

[Texan]

I read somewhere Rahane doesn't want to open and is more than happy to bide his time to break into the middle order. If that's true you can't do much but yeah I would have given Rahane & Rohit a few games by now. Maybe Pujara can be rested for this Test as he has an injured knee and Rahane can get a look-in.

I don't buy that. It's probably a rumor spread by one of Dhoni's cronies... Any young player would be more than happy to play in the team given a chance. What you don't want to do is just thrust him in on a seaming and bouncing wicket in South Africa and then give him a short notice to perform or perish.

[Texan]

i think dhoni has got biased now a days with his attitude towards the players selections

He's become more and more biased with time.... his mindless persistence with Raina in the Test team is a prime example. Anybody who watched Raina play could tell that he has major weaknesses that cannot be hidden in Test cricket. He doesn't even have a decent record in FC cricket.

[rkt.india]

I don't buy that. It's probably a rumor spread by one of Dhoni's cronies... Any young player would be more than happy to play in the team given a chance. What you don't want to do is just thrust him in on a seaming and bouncing wicket in South Africa and then give him a short notice to perform or perish.

If he wanted to open, he should opened in Ranji trophy too which he didn't.

[Texan]

If he wanted to open' date=' he should opened in Ranji trophy too which he didn't.[/quote'] As far as I know, the captain of the team decides batting positions. Rahane has never been captain of Mumbai. He opened in the past. When Wasim Jaffer was dropped from the Mumbai team, Rahane was moved to one-drop in order to give some stability to the middle order because Mumbai didn't have any other batsman who was consistent. The question is not whether he should open or not. The issue here is that the team management is playing some dirty politics with his career. When a middle-order spot opens up, Dhoni is happy to play either Yuvraj or Raina, both of whom have flopped consistently in Test cricket. When neither of those are picked in the squad and there is a middle-order spot available, he picks a 5th bowler instead. Now, when an opener's spot has opened up, he wants to play Dhawan ahead of Rahane claiming that Dhawan is a natural opener. These are all just excuses. Nobody keeps a young cricketer on the bench for 15+ tests in a row. What if Dhoni was given that kind of treatment when he started playing for India?? How would he feel? Surely, you can give Rahane couple of Test matches to prove his mettle.

[rkt.india]

These are all just excuses. Nobody keeps a young cricketer on the bench for 15+ tests in a row. What if Dhoni was given that kind of treatment when he started playing for India?? How would he feel? Surely, you can give Rahane couple of Test matches to prove his mettle.

Thing is he did not open when they did not even have Jaffer to opener instead makeshift opener Tare opened. This in itself shows that he is not eying test opener's spot. I would have played him at 6 dropping Bhajji or seamer on these turning tracks. Also look at this, when Dhoni can play him in ODIs as an opener, what issue Dhoni will have not playing him as an opener in tests. When a player himself is not interested in opening, you cannot force him to open. Sandeep Patil himself said that they are not looking at him as an opener but a middle order batsman, otherwise there was no need to select Dhawan as third opener who has far inferior FC record than Rahane.

[yoda]

Absolutely. Why not IPL??? Let him prove himself in IPL and then pick a Test team from the best IPL players.... perfect strategy!

Yea perfect strategy is to send a guy who is already struggling in ODIs to send in to open out of position in tests and destroy his career once and for all. :idea:

[adi B]

Yea perfect strategy is to send a guy who is already struggling in ODIs to send in to open out of position in tests and destroy his career once and for all. :idea:

and whats he gaining by sitting out?he should be in the playing before the saf tour else it would end in a disaster

[yoda]

and whats he gaining by sitting out?he should be in the playing before the saf tour else it would end in a disaster

There are no non-opener slot for him thanks to Dhoni's obsession with Jadeja at 6/7. You can't drop Vijay now even if you hated him before. Between Dhawan and Rahane I would open with Dhawan as Rahane struggled in ODIs as an opener and isn't even a regular FC opener.

[I6MTW]

ICF Guys need to realize that there is no place vacant for him in the middle order. Plus he is not an opener so he cannot sub for sehwag.

[Ultimate_Game]

I don't buy that. It's probably a rumor spread by one of Dhoni's cronies... Any young player would be more than happy to play in the team given a chance. What you don't want to do is just thrust him in on a seaming and bouncing wicket in South Africa and then give him a short notice to perform or perish.

If he's smart he would wait for a middle order slot to open up. We all saw how Laxman struggled as an opener and his career could have been over after the opening stint. Maybe Rahane understands that and knows that he will eventually get his shot in the middle order as Tendulkar is bound to retire soner than later and Jadeja will not be in the team for overseas tests. The team will need additional middle order batsmen that time and he knows he's at the top of depth chart. No point in going for the opening slot and if he fails at a spot he doesn't feel comfortable, he migh have kissed his intl career goodbye.

[Ultimate_Game]

Why should Rahane be preferred over regular FC openers? He is still getting his chances in ODIs and needs to prove himself there first. Don't think he is a Pujara type player tailor made just for tests.

Odis, Tests and T20s are 3 different formats and success in one doesn't guarantee success in others. Check out Rohit Sharma and Rahane's FC (longer format) and List A (domestic odis) averages and you will be surprised. Both average pretty high in longer formats and average in mid 30s in List A, which is an indicator they are not suited to shorter formats. Rahane or Rohit should not be forced to succeed in odis to get a shot in Tests. IMO selectors shouldn't select Rahane & Rohit in shorter formats at all and give them a run in Tests soon.

[vvvslaxman]

I will not back Rahane as an opener. At the highest level as an opener he will have a short Test career. Be glad atleast he is atleast with the squad. Think about how many guys never got a look in the side during 2000 thanks to our solid middle order and our mindless obsession with ODI players in Tests. Only guy he can replace is Jadeja. Seems like he is going to play 100+ tests :cantstop:

[Lord]

If he's smart he would wait for a middle order slot to open up. We all saw how Laxman struggled as an opener and his career could have been over after the opening stint. Maybe Rahane understands that and knows that he will eventually get his shot in the middle order as Tendulkar is bound to retire soner than later and Jadeja will not be in the team for overseas tests. The team will need additional middle order batsmen that time and he knows he's at the top of depth chart. No point in going for the opening slot and if he fails at a spot he doesn't feel comfortable' date=' he migh have kissed his intl career goodbye.[/quote'] If he fails as opener,he can always be slotted back to MO when SRT retires.that'll also give guys like Jiwanjot time to develop Vijay n Dhawan are waste of time

[Ultimate_Game]

If he fails as opener' date=he can always be slotted back to MO when SRT retires.that'll also give guys like Jiwanjot time to develop Vijay n Dhawan are waste of time

We all know that's not how it works in Indian cricket. Once he fails as an opener he will be kicked out of the team and may not get another chance at all.

[Texan]

If he's smart he would wait for a middle order slot to open up. We all saw how Laxman struggled as an opener and his career could have been over after the opening stint. Maybe Rahane understands that and knows that he will eventually get his shot in the middle order as Tendulkar is bound to retire soner than later and Jadeja will not be in the team for overseas tests. The team will need additional middle order batsmen that time and he knows he's at the top of depth chart. No point in going for the opening slot and if he fails at a spot he doesn't feel comfortable' date=' he migh have kissed his intl career goodbye.[/quote'] What I'm afraid is that Dhoni being the smart-@$$ that he is, will give Rahane a chance at a time when he's sure that he will fail.... like on a green top in SA. He will give him one Test and if he doesn't score much, drop him and show the world why he was right in keeping Rahane out.

[Texan]

If he fails as opener,he can always be slotted back to MO when SRT retires.that'll also give guys like Jiwanjot time to develop Vijay n Dhawan are waste of time

Well, first it was said that when Dravid retires, Rahane is a natural replacement. Then Laxman. Now, we're saying Sachin. Just wait for Dhoni to push for one of his cronies - Raina or Yuvraj or whoever can dance to his tunes.