Sri Lanka in India, 2017

[prasen9]

Maybe. I am not saying that is not the explanation. But, then how come his record in the domestics is fantastic. Is it that our average spinners are worse than the test spinners? Probably. It would be interesting to see how Rahane performed in the domestics against our top spinners. Unfortunately, the uselessly diluted Ranjis do not help in this regard.

[Sin Hombre]

I think it is not that Rahane cannot play spin but in attempts to make himself a LOI player, his technique against spin has diminished in the longest format. That said, until proven otherwise, he is still our best bat in swinging conditions and the best slip fielder.

We should get him, Pujara, Vijay and co to SA as early as possible. The current schedule where they arrive a week before the first test is a disaster waiting to happen.

[prasen9]

Agree fully. It is useless to have Rahane play ODIs in the sub-continent. He warms the bench most of the time anyway. It is unlikely that someone who does not have the technique to play spin at all would have done so well in the Indian domestics.

This SL team is a joke. Playing against them to give confidence to Rohit is asinine. On the contrary, he may be learning to be more cavalier and will be shown up in RSA.

And Karun Nair is banished despite doing (comparatively) well for India-As in RSA.

update: Seems like Vijay took a catch at forward short leg with his thighs. Good job by the "old" man.

[prasen9]

So, Vijay plays and Rahul sits out. Rahul is the future. He is one of the best young talents we have. He should have played and the fragile Vijay saved for RSA (to come in place of Dhawan).

Similarly, Ishant plays and Umesh is out. I'd take Umesh over Ishant. I guess they are going by the evidence in the last test

[Sin Hombre]

Fortunately Dhawan failed and can be eased out for SA.

[prasen9]

Hopefully, he will be. Remember he may get another chance this test.

[PKBasu]

Maybe. I am not saying that is not the explanation. But, then how come his record in the domestics is fantastic. Is it that our average spinners are worse than the test spinners? Probably. It would be interesting to see how Rahane performed in the domestics against our top spinners. Unfortunately, the uselessly diluted Ranjis do not help in this regard.

For many years (including when Rahane’s first class career began), our domestic cricket was played on seamer-friendly wickets, and many Ranji sides had just one spinner. So Rahane didn’t play too many spinners, and particularly leg-spinners. I find him extremely vulnerable to googlies, and he generally plays spin poorly. Today provided additional evidence.
I think he should have been rested for this test (and Kuldeep played in his stead).
On Rahul vs Dhawan, I think the right decision was made despite Dhawan’s early dismissal. Rahul is a great talent, but is dismissed for less than 10 too often in tests, which means it is risky to have him as an opener. He should eventually be accommodated in the middle order.

[Sin Hombre]

I have to laugh at PKB's comment here.

KL has 9 fifties in his last 12 innings and he was the only Indian who was comfortable on the rank turners we had against Australia earlier in the year. His issue has been not converting his 50s into big 100s.

[Sin Hombre]

6th double for Virat in the last 17 months. Next 18 months will be critical to his legacy as a test batsman and captain.

[sanjay8886]

We should call few more times this SL team (2 times playing them in two month is not enough). It will help build our confidence and boost averages for our players.

[PKBasu]

Of his 33 test innings, Rahul has been dismissed for less than 20 as many as 14 times (including two of his last three innings); he had a consistent run in home tests but has now gone back to his old habit (apart from getting injured too often for one so young). An opening batsman so prone to early dismissal is a risk. Vijay is solid at the TOP, Dhawan is mercurial but explosive when he gets going. Rahul is a great talent who should bat down the order.

[prasen9]

3 innings is not enough to say "went back to his old habits". I would be willing to bet that most of the greats also had three failures. At the end of the day, it is runs that matter. Rahul has scored more runs/innings than Vijay or Dhawan. He is young. I don't think he has been more injury-prone than Vijay in the last couple of years. He is technically more sound than Dhawan. He should play with Vijay in RSA.

[Sin Hombre]

He did not even have 3 "failures", it is 2/3 at worst which was preceded by a record tying 8 50+ scores in a row and was the only Indian to score tough runs in that period.

I had some hopes from the SA tour but those are fast disappearing.

Poor team selections, dismal slip fielding (we have dropped 6 catches already in the SL innings and Kohli is the worst of the lot but continues to field in the slips) and poor preparation in terms of warmup games makes me believe we will lose the first 2 tests for certain.

[PKBasu]

Rahane's wretched form is becoming a worry. He also played two Ranji games and made 0 and 45 in one and 49 and 0 in the other, so his first class form has been awful in the past 5-6 weeks.

Astonishing to see Pujara (37 off 42) outscoring Dhawan (24 off 56) by a country mile. This is good stuff, demonstrating that he can do it when needed.

[PKBasu]

India go to tea on Day 4 at 192/4, leading by 355 runs. I think a declaration one hour after tea (regardless of the score) should be the target. Aided by spectacular acceleration from Dhawan, Rohit and Kohli, India made 70/1 in the last 10 overs before tea.