5 Suresh Raina innings that prove he is an underrated genius
Suresh Raina is a legend of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is no hidden secret.
He has single-handedly won many games for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) over the years and was the first real Indian superstar to emerge from the tournament. But his IPL exploits sometimes tend to overshadow his contribution to the Indian team in limited-overs cricket.
Suresh Raina is a veteran of over 300 limited-overs internationals and was the first Indian batsman to score centuries in all the three formats of the game.
He often gave the Indian innings the required impetus in the death overs with his audacious stroke-play. Add to that his dynamite fielding, he was a complete package in ODIs and T20 internationals.
With Suresh Raina calling time on his international career, here is a look at five innings played by him in limited-overs cricket which prove that he was an underrated genius at the international level.
Five underarated Suresh Raina innings in limited-overs cricket:
#5: 49* vs Australia in Sydney (2016)
India faced off against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the third and final T20I of their limited-overs tour to Australia in early 2016.
This series was the beginning of a stage rehearsal for the 2016 T20 World Cup due to be held in India in a couple of months. Having already secured the series, the focus was on a whitewash of the Australian team to avenge the 4-1 defeat in the preceding one-day international series.
Australia batted first and posted a commanding 197/5 on the back of a magnificent unbeaten 124 by Shane Watson, the stand-in captain.
In reply, India were off to a flying start courtesy their openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.
After Dhawan's dismissal, Virat Kohli continued his unbelievable run of form and along with Rohit Sharma, put India in a position of victory. But both were dismissed after reaching their respective half-centuries with India still needing 51 runs off 31 deliveries.
In walked Yuvraj Singh who was making a comeback in the T20 side. Incidentally it was the first time he batted in the series. His struggles in the first few deliveries was for everyone to see as he could only score five runs off the first nine deliveries he faced.
During this period, Suresh Raina kept the required run-rate in check by scoring timely boundaries and never letting Australia to take control of the game. But with India needing 17 runs off the final over, victory seemed difficult if not impossible.
Yuvraj Singh found his rhythm in the final over bowled by Andrew Tye and collected ten runs off the first two balls. He failed to connect the third ball and crossed over for a bye.Â
Suresh Raina collected a couple off the next two deliveries. With two runs required off the final delivery, Suresh Raina expertly placed the ball in the gap through backward point for a boundary.
With his batting partner struggling for most of their partnership and having contributed only 15 runs in a partnership of 53, Suresh Raina guided India to a memorable victory with his sensible batting. The left-hander finished on an unbeaten 49 off just 25 balls, an innings which was lacedd with six boundaries and a six.
#4: 110* vs Zimbabwe in Auckland (2015)
India entered the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup as the defending champions and one of the favourites for the title. They lived up to the expectations and defeated every team on the way to facing Zimbabwe in their last league game before the quarter-finals.
Zimbabwe batted first and on the back of an excellent century from captain Brendan Taylor, posted a competitive 287 runs on the board.
The in-form Indian batsmen were expected to overhaul this target fairly easily. However, they lost their fourth wicket in the form of Virat Kohli at the team score of 92 in the 23rd over. At this point, India were staring at an embarassing defeat against the minnows, somewhat reminiscent of what happened in the 1999 World Cup encounter between the two teams.
Suresh Raina then joined hands with skipper MS Dhoni. The duo stabilised the innings and then did what they do best, going berserk in the final overs.
The fairly inexperienced Zimbabwean bowling attack wore a hapless look as both Suresh Raina and Dhoni started hitting them to all parts of the ground en-route a match-winning, unbeaten partnership of 196 runs off just 156 balls.
Suresh Raina compiled his only ICC World Cup century, finishing on an unbeaten 110 off 104 balls with the help of nine fours and four sixes and was duly named the Man of the Match.
Dhoni played his part to perfection as well, scoring an unbeaten 85 off 76 balls, with the help of eight fours and two sixes as India continued their unbeaten run in the tournament before losing to eventual champions Australia in the semifinal.
#3: 34* vs Australia in Ahmedabad (2011)
India faced off against 3-time defending champions Australia in the quarterfinal of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Although Australia had not played their best cricket right through the tournament, they were no easy pushovers and were at a different level altogether when it came to high-pressure knockout games in World Cups.
Australia batted first and for the first time in the tournament, Ricky Ponting fired with the bat with a sparkling century that gave his team a competitive 260/6 on the board in their allotted 50 overs.
India started decently through Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. After Sehwag's dismissal, Gautam Gambhir joined hands with Tendulkar to form a handy partnership that kept the innings going.
However, Tendulkar was dismissed soon after reaching his half-century and Virat Kohli walked back without scoring much. Gambhir then ran himself out after scoring his 50 due to a horrible mix-up with Yuvraj Singh, and MS Dhoni was dismissed soon as well.
At 187/5 in the 38th over, India still needed around six runs per over and were staring at yet another gut-wrenching defeat. But Suresh Raina joined hands with Yuvraj Singh and forged an amazing counter-attack on the Australian pace attack, thereby shifting the momentum back towards India.
He batted with amazing confidence for a 24-year old playing just his second World Cup match as he complimented the in-form Yuvraj Singh perfectly. Eventually, Australia had no answers to the pair's blistering partnership.
Finally, Yuvraj Singh hit Brett lee through the covers for the match-winning runs in the 48th over as India completed a memorable victory, thereby earning themselves a place in the semifinals. Although Yuvraj Singh was named the Man of the Match for his unbeaten 57 off 65 balls, it was Suresh Raina who swung the momentum in India's favour at a crucial juncture, scoring an unbeaten 34 off just 28 balls.
#2: 36* vs Pakistan in Mohali (2011)
After defeating Australia in the quarterfinal, India faced arch-rivals Pakistan in the semifinal of the 2011 World Cup. Any India-Pakistan match is an enormous occasion; a faceoff in a World Cup semifinal attended by higher officials of both countries generated more hype.
There is bound to be pressure on both teams in such a contest. It was Pakistan who experienced it first, through a stunning assault by Virender Sehwag on their pace spearhead Umar Gul, hitting him for five fours in an over.
Just when things were looking bad for Pakistan, Wahab Riaz brought them back into the match by scalping Sehwag. Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar then carried on steadily before Saeed Ajmal scalped Gambhir, and Riaz returned to snap out Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh off successive deliveries.
Sachin Tendulkar was holding one end up but when he was dismissed for 85 and MS Dhoni was also sent back to the pavilion, India were staring at underwhelming total.
But Suresh Raina held the fort for his team. Along with the lower-order batsmen, Suresh Raina scored some crucial runs to frustrate Pakistan and carry India to a respectable total of 260/9 in 50 overs; much more than they were likely to score at one point of time.
Suresh Raina ended with an unbeaten 36 off 39 deliveries, playing one of the most crucial knocks for India in the entire tournament that shifted the momentum towards them and gave them the belief of defending a sub-par score.
The collective efforts of the bowlers ensured that India won the match fairly comfortably in the end, doing so by 29 runs.
Although Sachin Tendulkar was named the Man of the Match for being the top-scorer for India, Suresh Raina's contribution was no less as it ensured India's progress to the final to face Sri Lanka.
#1: 100 vs England in Cardiff (2014)
This is easily one of the greatest knocks played by Suresh Raina in his entire career. Having faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of England in the preceding Test series, no one expected India to fare better in the ODIs in swinging conditions.
After the first ODI was washed out due to rain, the teams finally started the limited-overs leg of the tour in the second ODI in Cardiff.
In challenging batting conditions, India were jolted early with the early departures of Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli before Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane steadied the ship with a partnership of 91 for the 3rd wicket. After Rahane was dismissed and Rohit Sharma too followed suit soon after reaching his half-century, Suresh Raina had old mate and skipper MS Dhoni for company for yet another rescue mission.
The duo started slowly, but it was not too long before Suresh Raina found his best form and started smashing the English bowlers all over the park in yet another unbelievable counter-attack. He eventually reached 100 off just 74 balls, an innings laden with 12 fours and three sixes as he buried some of the ghosts of his previous tour to England in 2011 where he had failed miserably in the Test series.
Dhoni scored some quick runs towards the end as India reached 304/6 in their 50 overs and won the match comfortably by 143 runs. Suresh Raina was duly named the Man of the Match for an innings described by Sourav Ganguly as one of the greatest played by an Indian in overseas conditions.
That knock eventually set the tone for India to win the 5-match series by a 3-1 margin as Suresh Raina bagged the Man of the Series award.