Watch: Suresh Raina works out with Ankit Rajpoot ahead of Uttar Pradesh's match against J & K
Suresh Raina returned to the cricket field earlier this week in the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Playing for Uttar Pradesh, the Indian all-rounder scored a half-century against Punjab.
However, Uttar Pradesh are yet to win a match in the competition. Hence, Raina preferred to sweat it out along with teammate Ankit Rajpoot before the team's third match.
The Uttar Pradesh cricket team will battle Jammu and Kashmir at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur on Thursday (January 14). All squads are inside massive bio-bubbles for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Hence, the team members spend much more time with each other at the hotel.
Here's how Suresh Raina worked out with Ankit Rajpoot in their hotel room.
Suresh Raina used the KGF theme song as the reel's background music while he highlighted in the caption that progress always takes place outside the comfort zone. Both the Uttar Pradesh cricket team stars had dumbbells in their hands as they worked on their core strength.
Suresh Raina has impressed with his batting performance in the 2021 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, while Rajpoot has scalped two wickets in two games. In the fixture against Punjab, Ankit dismissed the dangerous Abhishek Sharma and captain Mandeep Singh. Unfortunately, Uttar Pradesh lost the match by 11 runs.
Can Suresh Raina help Uttar Pradesh open their account against J & K?
Suresh Raina retired from international cricket last year. He missed IPL 2020 because of personal reasons. But the southpaw has been in good form at the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as evident from his knock of 56 against Punjab. Raina will look to deliver with the bat once again.
Although stars like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Priyam Garg, Ankit Rajpoot, Shivam Mavi, and Rinku Singh are a part of the Uttar Pradesh squad along with Raina, the team has lost both of its games so far.
Uttar Pradesh will look for a collective team effort as they aim to bounce back against Parvez Rasool's Jammu and Kashmir.