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Raina misses Twenty20 boat to America
MUMBAI: Till Virat Kohli took his Twenty20 game to another level at the beginning of this year, Suresh Raina was considered the lynchpin of India’s batting in T20
MUMBAI: Till Virat Kohli took his Twenty20 game to another level at the beginning of this year, Suresh Raina was considered the lynchpin of India’s batting in T20 internationals. As Kohli’s graph rose, the southpaw’s has slipped dramatically in this period.
On Friday, Raina was the most notable name missing from the 14-member squad that was announced by the Indian cricket board for the two-T20 internationals against world champions West Indies on August 27 and 28 in Florida. Instead, the selectors have given him the responsibility to lead the India Green in the Duleep Trophy from August 23.
While Raina didn’t have a consistent run with the Indian team, he did well in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which formed an important basis for selection of fresh faces for the short Zimbabwe tour in June.
If IPL performances have merit then Suresh Raina, who captained Gujarat Lions to the second qualifier where they lost to eventual champions Sunrisers Hyderabad, deserved a place.
Raina’s non-selection does raise an eyebrow. Raina, who led Uttar Pradesh to the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 title earlier this year, may have been out of form in the ICC World T20 with his bat (41 runs in four innings), but he did well with his part time bowling, claiming three wickets for 29 runs in five matches in the tournament.
He, however, picked himself up in the IPL by becoming Gujarat Lions’ highest run-getter with 399 runs in 15 matches that included three half-centuries.
Raina has been skipper MS Dhoni’s most trusted lieutenant, but his dropping from the one-day team and now from the T20 squad is a curious case.
Former chairman of selectors Kiran More was surprised to learn about Raina’s dropping. “Raina can walk into the T20 team. He is a match-winner; he’s a brilliant fielder and can also chip in with some spin bowling. Even if I have to close my eyes to pick a team, Raina would be a part of it,” said More.
More was clueless by selectors’ decision to not include Raina. “I don’t understand any reason behind it. Raina does not lack any skills. He is a proven performer and doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone. Such instances can hurt players’ confidence,” said More.
Raina’s other World T20 teammates — Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Pawan Negi also don’t figure in the squad for the West Indies series. While Ashish Nehra is still recuperating from his knee surgery sustained during the IPL, Hardik Pandya and Manish Pandey are on the India ‘A’ tour to Australia.
KL Rahul, who made his T20I debut in Zimbabwe, has been included for the WI series. Amit Mishra and Stuart Binny earned a recall to the shortest format.
