Ajinkya Rahane : Time for him to step up and claim the big prize?

[OMM!]

If you only watched Raina today, you'd think he could play the short ball too!

I've only seen Rahane in T20 and List A mode, so wouldn't like to pre-judge too much, but he tends to pull upwards or hook it in the air and he strikes me as a bloke who likes to play it, regardless of height of bounce or if he's defending/attacking, a bit like Ian Bell.

Like I said, he looked impressive. But I would want to see more of him in the longer form!

 

[Xuhaib]

hard to make judgements on a single knock byt has to say that was one of the more impressive debuts..

 

[Prince EWS]

Looked decent against the short ball i thought.

Pulled one too midwicket too. Was a slow wicket though.

Yep, agreed. That really stood out, as did his ability to maneuver and place the ball onto the leg side.

If you only watched Raina today, you'd think he could play the short ball too!

I don't really agree. Raina really did still look like someone who'd struggle with the short ball on a better pitch with the way he was just clearly the right side of his body and slogging it; Rahane played the short balls with a far more convincing technique.

I agree it's far too early to make any serious judgments but he did look fairly impressive. Wouldn't be too surprised if he leapfrogged Raina and Kohli into India's next Test series; he'd probably have to play well in the ODIs though - rightly or wrongly.

 

[Arjun]

Rahane has a chance in ODIs, as well as T20. We're seeing bits-and-pieces players and wicketkeepers playing as batsmen, so Rahane should have a shout for all five ODIs opening the innings with Tendulkar. It will be a while before his Test debut, but two games down, he'll be ready.

His IPL team needs to take him more seriously. They've made stars out of average, unknown or struggling international players, but given him next to no chance. A good IPL will make him ready for India's T20I side, but for now, he'll be good for ODIs on a regular basis.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Looked ok against short ball and would almost certainly play it differently if it was a test match. Didn't look uncomfortable at all and played one glorious cover drive. Get him in the test side, better than Raina, Waterboy and Kohli.