Former Australian captain Steve Waugh on Sunday said that Ajinkya Rahane reminded him a bit of Sachin Tendulkar and his “compact technique” would fetch him a lot of runs for India.
Waugh, who is here for the inauguration of world class sports arena at Brigade Orchards at the outskirts of the city, said Rahane has modelled himself on iconic batsman Tendulkar.
“I like Rahane and he is a quality player. He reminds me quite a bit of Tendulkar. He does not have a very big back swing. He obviously has modeled himself a bit on Tendulkar,” Waugh told PTI in an interview at the inauguration of world class sports arena at Brigade Orchards at the outskirts of the city here.
“(Virat) Kohli is a world class player, one of the best.
But, I also like Rahane’s technique. He has a very compact technique, has shots all around the ground and has a good temperament. I like him as a player and is going to score a lot of runs for India,” said Waugh.
Asked about Kohli’s captaincy, Waugh said the Delhi batsman was on right track as a skipper after he led India to a historic away Test series win in Sri Lanka.
“Obviously, to come back from one-nil down and winning a series in Sri Lanka is a major achievement. So definitely he is on the right track,” he said.
“He (Kohli) obviously has led the side well, and it is not easy to do that in an away series. So, as a captain he has got all the players going in one direction which is important.
They believe in his captaincy,” Waugh added.
On South Africa picking three spinners for the upcoming India Test series, Waugh said picking more slow bowlers would not guarantee success as Indians are very good players of spin and it’s hard to win in India.
“They - South Africa - have picked three spinners, but that does not guarantee them success. Indian side have very good players of spin and it is very hard to win in India,” Waugh said.
South Africa have named three specialist spinners, including Imran Tahir, in their Test squad for the four-match Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela series beginning next month.
“South Africa have picked a smart side - perfectly tailor-made for Indian conditions as they believe pitches are going to turn here,” Waugh said.
Asked about the chances for South Africa to win the upcoming series, Waugh said, “They have won before in India.
They have very good reverse swing bowlers,” he said.
