Rahane has best technique among Indian batsmen: Vaughan

Former England captain Michael Vaughan says that Ajinkya Rahane has the best technique among Indians and the youngster will be one of the premier willow wielders in world cricket in the next four to five years.
"Indian team has a wonderful array of batsmen, who have been there and done that. They have got couple of good young players and I like Rahane. I think, he is the best technician among Indian players. He plays quicks and spin as well as anybody in the world," Vaughan said during an interaction organised by the ICC, here today.
To a query as to why he thinks Rahane to be special, Vaughan elaborately discussed the Mumbai batsman's watertight technique.

"It's very simple. It's his alignment at the crease. He doesn't get that left-foot too far across and that's why he has got great balance when he is on the backfoot. He has not only got options of playing both cut shots and pull-shots but also has the option of going down the ground for straight hits.
"When you have those options as a batsman, you make it difficult for opposition to set fields as you can't set fields for shots down the ground. I think he showed in England last year, he can allow the ball to come to him.

"I think in the next four or five years, we will be talking a lot about Rahane. More than what we have heard even up till now as he is a wonderful player," the veteran of 82 Tests was effusive in his praise.

There are times one needs to know the recipe for success and Vaughan feels that Mahendra Singh Dhoni certainly knows a thing or two about winning World Cup.
"There is something about MS Dhoni and World Cups. What he did after the tri-series is remarkable. There was a change of team and also change of mentality. I have always said that in semi-finals, the team that plays well in the first 15 overs -- be it with the ball or bat is the team that gets ahead and wins that game.

"MS Dhoni knows how to win World Cups and that goes quite a long way," the 40-year-old Yorkshireman summed it up as to what exactly is India's strength.
From Australia's perspective, Vaughan said that it will boil down to how well skipper Michael Clarke and his deputy Steve Smith counter Ravichandran Ashwin, who could pose real threat for Australian batsmen on a slow SCG track.