India's Upcoming Batsman - How do you rate them?

[cnerd123]

Yea you killed the swagger, go back to PC.

Only if you join me back there

 

[honestbharani]

It is an interesting thing with Rahane, isn't it? He averages so much after a fair number of games in FC cricket in India and yet, it is obvious that he has issues handling the spinners on dusty tracks. Is it because he plays more confidently in FC and is a little uncertain in International cricket? I kinda recall seeing him in FC going down the pitch to spinners as much as someone like Pujara does in internationals but I have not seen him do that in Tests. Maybe a more confident approach to playing spin, instead of trying to play off the backfoot or sweep (the exact opposite of the SC way to handle spin) could help?

 

[cnerd123]

I dont think I have seen Rahane play against quality spin on turning tracks enough to judge. And didn't he score a 100 against Herath in SL?

 

[honestbharani]

I never said turning tracks alone, right? He didn't look comfortable against Ali or Lyon either, at least not as comfortable as you would hope of a very talented Indian batsman. Its all relative of course but I just feel at times he is slightly more indecisive against spin than he is against pace and that is what can cost you dear in such conditions. And yeah, he has that 100 in SL but even there, there was a lot of sweeping and going back to adjust at the last nanosecond to the spin involved. It will not work most of the time.



EDIT: I did say "dusty tracks" in my original posts. So apologies for that, zo.

 

[Daemon]

I never said turning tracks alone, right? He didn't look comfortable against Ali or Lyon either, at least not as comfortable as you would hope of a very talented Indian batsman. Its all relative of course but I just feel at times he is slightly more indecisive against spin than he is against pace and that is what can cost you dear in such conditions. And yeah, he has that 100 in SL but even there, there was a lot of sweeping and going back to adjust at the last nanosecond to the spin involved. It will not work most of the time.



EDIT: I did say "dusty tracks" in my original posts. So apologies for that, zo.

Pitches in Ranji basically. Spinners have been made useless on a lot of tracks.

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[honestbharani]

Good spot. I am not sure how I feel about it either. On the one hand, you have players in Ranji having to adjust between playing on greentops like they do up north to dustbowls like Chennai or a few others place in South India. You would think it is a very good test of all types of players but the numbers do not help reflect the quality of adjustment these guys are able to make on tracks that are opposite to what they prefer. And this is why selection of the Indian side can be such a big headache. You see the numbers and it usually shows that spinners did great on dustbowls and medium pacers who can swing the ball were awesome on greentops and that batsmen scored a lot of runs on roads. We never really get to see which spinner looked the most incisive and best on a green top or which seamer looked like he can hold his own on a dustbowl etc.

 

[Prince EWS]

The best tool for Indian selectors should definitely be the Duleep Trophy but unfortunately it's too short and almost always played on absolute roads. It's such a waste of a really good idea.

 

[Pratters]

Not a fan of Duleep. It's basically players out together with no team culture. I would prefer Ranji in three divisions with 9 teams in each division playing home and away.

 

[Daemon]

That's the current format.

 

[Pratters]

Currently isn't it first division in two groups and then a second division?

 

[Daemon]

Yeah, isn't that what you meant? My bad.

 

[Jono]

LOL nah, Kohli doesn't have any claim to being considered better than either Rahane or Pujara, especially Pujara. Kohli having gunned it in Australia was awesome, but Kohli was also most likely to gun it in Australia because he prefers pace and bounce more than any other Indian batsmen. Forget about overseas, Kohli has yet to truly dominate his home country, performing overseas doesn't mean you can put in average performances at home.

Does Kohli have the potential to be the best of the lot? Definitely
Would I personally back Kohli to be the best of the lot? Yes, although the others will be close behind him
Is Kohli currently the best of the lot? Debatable at best

I don't get it. because he was most likely to do good overseas and so did good overseas he gets less credit than if it was a surprise?

 

[OverratedSanity]

Potential wise there's an argument for Pujara and Rahane to be rated higher, probably. Can't see how those two can actually be rated higher than Kohli based on what they've done so far though. Kohli's easily been more prolific.

 

[Contra]

I don't get it. because he was most likely to do good overseas and so did good overseas he gets less credit than if it was a surprise?

Because doing well overseas is the differentiating factor only when the record at home for both players is equal, which in Kohli's case it isn't. There is a reason why Kohli averages 5 less runs than Pujara, and Pujara's innings at home haven't exactly come on flat easy wickets, and if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have won a lot of the games we did at home, regardless of how good Jadeja and Ashwin have been.

Also just to clarify, he was only expected to do well in places where there is pace and bounce, which is more SA and AUS, we saw how terrible Kohli was in England. Kohli's real challenge is on home grounds, particularly turning wickets which he hasn't exactly done well in, as well as where the ball moves which is in England.

 

[weldone]

Kohli and Rahane at home are just fine. They aren't exceptional players of spin on dustbowls; but they are just fine. Some people are complaining perhaps because for a long time they got used to watching Indian batsmen who are excellent against spin (Tendulkar, Azharuddin, Sidhu, Ganguly, Sehwag, Dravid, Laxman and even Gambhir). That was a long purple patch. Pujara is in that mould. Kohli and Rahane aren't as good against spin, but they are no mug. They are good players of spin. And more importantly, they are very good against pace and bounce. I'm rather a bit worried about Kohli's (and Pujara's) failure against swing in England. But I see no reason to worry about their game against spin. If they are struggling against spin on a surface; know that the opponent batsmen will struggle more against our spinners (unless, maybe, if and when we play against Pakistan).

 

[honestbharani]

Kohli and Rahane at home are just fine. They aren't exceptional players of spin on dustbowls; but they are just fine. Some people are complaining perhaps because for a long time they got used to watching Indian batsmen who are excellent against spin (Tendulkar, Azharuddin, Sidhu, Ganguly, Sehwag, Dravid, Laxman and even Gambhir). That was a long purple patch. Pujara is in that mould. Kohli and Rahane aren't as good against spin, but they are no mug. They are good players of spin. And more importantly, they are very good against pace and bounce. I'm rather a bit worried about Kohli's (and Pujara's) failure against swing in England. But I see no reason to worry about their game against spin. If they are struggling against spin on a surface; know that the opponent batsmen will struggle more against our spinners (unless, maybe, if and when we play against Pakistan).

I think the point is more about when we get to play quality spinners here, these guys do not fill the fans with such confidence. As you pointed out, maybe the bar is being set too high, but if Warne were to come and bowl for Australia here now, you get the feeling he will blow us away, with the exception of maybe Pujara and to an extent, Vijay. Plus, I think the better way to put it is we expect them to be "very good" players of spin if we need to be dominant at least at home, and so far they have shown that they are at least a rung below it, assuming the bar set by the golden generation as "excellent".

 

[Furball]

Potential wise there's an argument for Pujara and Rahane to be rated higher, probably. Can't see how those two can actually be rated higher than Kohli based on what they've done so far though. Kohli's easily been more prolific.

Disagree completely with your first sentence. Kohli is Lara/Pietersen levels of special.

 

[CricAddict]

How good is Shreyas Iyer? Top scorer in Ranji trophy this season, at a strike rate of over 100. Was impressive in IPL as well. Rohit and many others have hailed him as the next big thing. Hope he lives up to the hype.

 

[honestbharani]

He was top scorer last Ranji season too, if I am not wrong. Its no smoke without a flame for sure. I Just hope he carries on this way. Should make our T20 side at least at some point after the T20 WC.