 | « Back to article | Print this article |
If given a longer run, Rahane will do really well: Dravid
Former captain Rahul Dravid threw his weight behind India discard and Rajasthan Royals team-mate Ajinkya Rahane, saying the youngster deserves a longer run in international cricket.
Rahane, 25, has played just 17 ODIs and one Test match since making his debut in 2011 and was axed after a few failures despite being one of the most consistent batsmen in domestic cricket.
As compared to Rahane, other batsmen, like Rohit Sharma or Murali Vijay, have enjoyed a longer run and the full backing of the selectors.
'It is a tough environment but he is a tough kid'
The Mumbai batsman's record in first class cricket is top-notch -- a tally of 5600 runs in 63 matches, at an average of 60, inclusive of 19 hundreds and 23 half-centuries.
In fact, the right-hander was Rajasthan Royals' star performer, scoring four consecutive fifties in this year’s Champions League T20.
“I think he is an exceptional player and Rahane has really done very well. Whenever the opportunities have been given to him he has done well.
"I really hope that he gets a slightly longer run to show his worth. He has really flowered as a player. He is competing in a tough environment; there is no doubt that everyone is doing pretty well. It is a tough environment, but he is a tough kid,” Dravid said, in Mumbai on Monday, at the launch of Gillete’s new Fusion Power Phantom razor.
'Youngsters must learn from Kohli'
Dravid wants youngsters like Rahane to learn from Virat Kohli, who has excelled in both Tests and ODIs.
“There are some good, young talented players. When you look at what Virat has been able to do in One-day cricket, and even in Test cricket, is quite exceptional. India's One-day batting is good as I have ever seen it. It's sensational! The top six, seven... they, we have at the moment,” he said.
'I don't think we should expect people to come straight away and become the next Tendulkar'
The former India captain also pleaded with the selectors and team management to be patient with the younger players and give them time to realise their potential on the international stage.
“It’s just a question of some of these young guys being able to fill in. Look, it is not going to be easy to fill those shoes. I don't think we should expect people to come straight away and become the next Tendulkar. The creation of Tendulkar took a long time as well.
"So you have got to give people time. Hopefully, these young guys... you have got a Kohli or a [Rohit] Sharma, Rahane, [Suresh] Raina, so many of these young guys pushing for slots. It is going to be interesting to see which one of them can sort of hold on to a permanent slot for a while,” he said.
New ODI rules have made life tough for bowlers
Commenting on the ongoing India-Australia ODI series, Dravid pointed out that the new ODI rules have made life tough for the bowlers.
“It's a tough series for bowlers. I mean it has not been easy series on both sides. It is very hard to blame our guys. They are young, they are inexperienced. It's not easy to be a bowler with all these field restrictions coming in,” he said.
He believes that under the circumstances a total in the region of 300 could be considered as a par total in ODIs now with the two new balls and fielding restrictions.
“What needs to be an acceptable bowling performance for bowlers probably needs to be re-assessed. We can't look at old statistics and say these are acceptable numbers. Maybe ,300 is an acceptable score, like 250 was acceptable in the past.
"Maybe, with the new field restrictions and two-new balls, probably 300 is acceptable. I won't be that critical.
"Obviously, they are young and they keep improving and keep getting better, especially with, maybe, the execution at the death. One area that I think we can improve a little bit is the execution at the death, but that will come with experience,” he said.