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'He's known for brilliant fielding, hitting the ball out of ground. But we haven't seen it': Pollock on Raina's struggle
With scores of 4, 17*, 11, 2 and 3, Suresh Raina has had a woeful second half of IPL 2021.
Veteran batsman Suresh Raina is called Mr. IPL for a season. For years, he has been the backbone of Chennai Super Kings and their success. Raina is one of the few batsmen to have scored over 5000 runs on the IPL and is a legend of the tournament.
However, Raina has endured a surprisingly disappointing IPL 2021. After missing out the previous season on personal grounds, Raina opened his IPL 2021 campaign in style, scoring a half-century in CSK' first match of the season. However, ever since, the runs have dried up and the highest Raina has managed was 24 against Royal Challengers Bangalore back in April.
Former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock weighed in on Raina's struggle this season, explaining how the CSK batsman has looked far from convincing and believes that the reason behind it could be due to some underlying niggle the 34-year-old facing.
"He hasn't been able to find his touch. He looks like he might be carrying a bit of a niggle, he doesn't look that pacey, that's what we are so used to: brilliant fielding over the years, contributing with his off-spin and smashing the ball out of the ground; we haven't seen that. No surprise that they promoted him to No.3; that was in a bid to get him some form under the belt," Pollock told Cricbuzz.
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In fact, the season half has been abysmal for Raina, who has scored 4, 17*, 11, 2 and 3 in the five games. Although CSK have qualified for the Playoffs, Pollock reckons it may not be a bad idea to bring in another veteran batsman in Robin Uthappa in place of Raina in the XI. Rajasthan Royals traded Uthappa to CSK in an all-cash deal and even though CSK do not make changes that easily, this one could be an exception, adds Pollock.
"I wonder if they will give Robin Uthappa a chance. CSK are a team that doesn't like to make big changes. The longer it goes on, the more you feel they can't actually make a change for the knockouts unless they make it sooner or later. I'm sure he will be keen to have a go. But if they keep winning, they will want everyone firing," Pollock explained.
