Switchblade Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ajikya-rahane-pravin-amre-mumbai-test-match-first-test-ton-team-india/1/344878.html Asia Cup over the years has always been a low profile competition that no one wants to play. It's a competition between a set of teams trying to do achieve the same objective - skillfull spinners and few medium pacers asked to stop a very talented bunch of stroke players on the flattest of surfaces. Even so for those Indian batsmen who smell an opportunity it could be a useful couple of weeks for their one day careers. With the team's best one day finisher MS Dhoni not playing, another permanent one day fixture Suresh Raina dropped, slots in the Indian middle order are up for grabs. Mumbai old school's Ajikya Rahane is one of the contenders. By nature a hard working athlete, Rahane's quiet demeanour has meant it's taken him longer to earn his test cap. "He has gone through the grind for six years, 16 test matches as a reserve before getting his chance. Because of this his first test ton becomes very crucial. It should give him a lot of confidence," says former India bat Pravin Amre, who Rahane has been working closely with in between tours. Amre should know the importance of a test ton. He cracked a ton on debut in Durban when the Kings Mead wicket was fast and lively. His India career did not reach the desired destination but is now the quiet face behind Ajinkya Rahane's success story. "I was terribly disappointed that Ajinkya missed out on 96 in the Durban test in December. I told him it would have been great to have his name alongside me on the honours board in Durban," says Amre. Rahane's test debut unlike Amre's did not go to plan. He played an atrocious shot in a tight situation against Australia in the Delhi test and he went on to lose his spot in the next series. That's when Rahane sought Amre's help. Rahane worked tirelessly with Amre before the South African tour trying to master the art of leaving the ball alone and dealing with the shot ball by practicing against the wet rubber balls in Mumbai. His preparations for New Zealand were different with focus on not playing the horizontal shots too much and dealing with the moving ball. With a fighting 96 in Durban against the no.1 ranked team in the world and a maiden test ton in New Zealand, Rahane has only added to his rising reputation. Now it's time to change gears. With India set to play three months of 50 and 20 overs cricket in batting friendly conditions, the challenge now is to be able to change the approach in quick time. With little practice time available, Amre believes Rahane needs to gather confidence by just looking back at the Golden bat he won last year in the Champions League T20 and get going. "There is so much confidence to gain for him if he looks back at the Golden bat he won in the Champions League. He performed on instinct there and if you look at the shots he plays in T20 cricket most of them are proper cricketing shots. It's a mental adjustment he has to make, he hasn't done so well in one dayers yet but that will happen with time," he says. The team gets a 72 hour breather to switch from New Zealand to Bangladesh. Chalk and cheese! For now the selectors have marked a middle order slot for Rahane in the ODI's and he hasn't quite found his radar in the 50 overs game yet. Having failed four times over in the one day series in New Zealand and a solitary game in South Africa, on the lookout to find his one day wares, Rahane awaits a mental conditioning session with his mentor Amre as its time to gather some hitting form with the Asia Cup, T20 World Cup and IPL ahead.
SLICKR392 Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 Rahane worked tirelessly with Amre before the South African tour trying to master the art of leaving the ball alone and dealing with the shot ball by practicing against the wet rubber balls in Mumbai. His preparations for New Zealand were different with focus on not playing the horizontal shots too much and dealing with the moving ball. With a fighting 96 in Durban against the no.1 ranked team in the world and a maiden test ton in New Zealand, Rahane has only added to his rising reputation. Good to see the commitment he's showing in each series. :hatsoff:
G_B_ Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 Rahane has always been a workaholic and Mumbai Indians have to be thanked for that. They introduced the likes of Kulkarni Tare Rahane etc initially to the gym culture. Rahane is going through a process of adding muscle. I think he realises that he needs to be able to play the big shots on command. Even Kulkarni has bulked up on muscle and increased pace. anyways, maybe its time India do indeed take Praveen amre on board as the Indian batting coach. Rahane is now averaging in the 60s in Sa and NZ away in test matches.
Deleted_User_1 Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 Very impressed with Rahane! :hatsoff:
Yoda-esque Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 Another classic batsman from the Mumbai stable
putrevus Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 Amre becoming mentor for these guys good for him.
Lord Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 Rahane has always been a workaholic and Mumbai Indians have to be thanked for that. They introduced the likes of Kulkarni Tare Rahane etc initially to the gym culture. Rahane is going through a process of adding muscle. I think he realises that he needs to be able to play the big shots on command. Even Kulkarni has bulked up on muscle and increased pace. anyways, maybe its time India do indeed take Praveen amre on board as the Indian batting coach. Rahane is now averaging in the 60s in Sa and NZ away in test matches. Rohit is a Mumbai Indian too.we dont see the same from him.or is he too tailunted for that?
Yoda-esque Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 Rohit is a Mumbai Indian too.we dont see the same from him.or is he too tailunted for that? Rohit reminds me of Carl Hooper,a batsman with such lazy elegance and dazzling strokeplay. He could never fulfill his potential except towards the later stages of his career. I fear Rohit will go the same way.
G_B_ Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 Rohit is a Mumbai Indian too.we dont see the same from him.or is he too tailunted for that? the problem for rohit was get big a huge hit at a young age during T20 Wc 2007. The likes of Rahane were allowed to grow. Thats not to say Rohit has not contributed. Yes he has. Both Rahane and Rohit were key parts to Mumbai's ranji success in the past 4-5 years. But Rahane was able to build relationships with the extended MCA affiliate network during off season. Rahane currently stays in mumbai's eastern suburbs a stone throw away from where Amre lives. Its also a case of approachability. The likes of Rahane Amre etc come from the same stock of lower middle class marathi shiv sena/mns voting families whose grandfather and fathers used to work in mumbai's textile mills. Same can be said about the likes of Kulkarni. Rohit in that sense remains an outsider. I am not saying that with venom. Its just a case of Amre not being the first person of Rohit's mind when he seeks help. I am sure Amre himself is more than happy to help.
putrevus Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 the problem for rohit was get big a huge hit at a young age during T20 Wc 2007. The likes of Rahane were allowed to grow. Thats not to say Rohit has not contributed. Yes he has. Both Rahane and Rohit were key parts to Mumbai's ranji success in the past 4-5 years. But Rahane was able to build relationships with the extended MCA affiliate network during off season. Rahane currently stays in mumbai's eastern suburbs a stone throw away from where Amre lives. Its also a case of approachability. The likes of Rahane Amre etc come from the same stock of lower middle class marathi shiv sena/mns voting families whose grandfather and fathers used to work in mumbai's textile mills. Same can be said about the likes of Kulkarni. Rohit in that sense remains an outsider. I am not saying that with venom. Its just a case of Amre not being the first person of Rohit's mind when he seeks help. I am sure Amre himself is more than happy to help. I thought players were paying for amre's services , if not he should be charging them.
G_B_ Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 I thought players were paying for amre's services ' date=' if not he should be charging them.[/quote'] they are. However its not an earth shattering amount. $15-20k amre himself has multiple ventures also with maharashtra cricket association and even mumbai cricket. For example Mumbai cricket used him recently to run camps for talent spotting in Kalyan-dombivali. I do believe he was the batting coach for Pune franchise.
Yoda-esque Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 Am glad Rahane got this opportunity,there was a good chance he would go Mazumdars way.Both have a similar batting style that relies more on timing than power
putrevus Posted February 21, 2014 Posted February 21, 2014 they are. However its not an earth shattering amount. $15-20k amre himself has multiple ventures also with maharashtra cricket association and even mumbai cricket. For example Mumbai cricket used him recently to run camps for talent spotting in Kalyan-dombivali. I do believe he was the batting coach for Pune franchise. Hope we find guys like Amre who can help bowlers they are lot of bowlers in Indian who could use this kind of help.
rkt.india Posted February 22, 2014 Posted February 22, 2014 Hope we find guys like Amre who can help bowlers they are lot of bowlers in Indian who could use this kind of help. TA Shekher.
Number Posted February 22, 2014 Posted February 22, 2014 Needs to identify his run scoring options for ODIs which are risk free. Kohli started knowing his percentage shots very early which he can easily play and score without taking much risk. Rahane can take Dravid's help in this. He too was struggling in ODIs before 1999-2000 although was very good in tests. After that he made some changes in batting style and became a good ODI bat.
rkt.india Posted February 22, 2014 Posted February 22, 2014 Needs to identify his run scoring options for ODIs which are risk free. Kohli started knowing his percentage shots very early which he can easily play and score without taking much risk. Rahane can take Dravid's help in this. He too was struggling in ODIs before 1999-2000 although was very good in tests. After that he made some changes in batting style and became a good ODI bat. Problem with him is limited onside game. Rohit has the same problem. Batsmen who have very good leg side game to maneuver the ball will be very good ODI batsmen. Kohli had a strong leg side game.
Blue Star Posted February 22, 2014 Posted February 22, 2014 But the commentators were saying that it was the coach " Duncan Fletcher" who widened his batting stance to adjust to bouncy tracks. Which one is true and who worked harder with rahane is quite clear here. I don't know why the commentators were giving credit to Duncan.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now