So Klaasen and Miller should open for SA? If the theory held up they'd win every game.
Dhoni used to regularly say that anyone can open but you needed the best batters to finish. He maintained openers didn't have to strategize as much, just see ball hit ball.
How many times does an opener carry his bat?
I get the maths part of facing the most deliveries, but it so rarely happens that its not really a factor. If you looked at the stats you'd find that on average most good batters only last about 30 deliveries, probably less.
There are also some fantastic openers. It's an interesting topic.
If there's swing on offer the new ball swings for about 4 or 5 overs. There's also a bit more bounce and nip in the first 5. Enough to be significant.
You're also facing their best quick most times and his adrenaline is pumping, sometimes their best 2 quicks.
As far as pace goes, swing is what really troubles batters. Hands down. Swing and bounce is tough to deal with and it becomes less after 4-6 overs.
If you've never really opened how easy is it to suddenly give it a go? Its a big thing to get your head around.
Personally I don't think Raza would do well. He's opened for us a couple of times and against "lesser" attacks and he couldn't get it away for the first 3 or 4 overs.
He also faces spin better than most of our guys, so make sure he's at the crease when they come on, surely?
If you're batting first you also don't know what to expect pitch-wise. The guys following you have a little preview.
Just read an interesting article where they compared red ball averages of guys who'd opened and also batted middle order and it surprisingly didn't show too much difference. The individuals differed but the spread was strange, some guys did better opening. But this was red ball.
We currently have nothing to lose, except even more credibility
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
it would be an interesting move.