Suresh Raina: Limited to limited overs cricket?
Suresh Raina is working on facing the short pitched ball which has troubled him in the past
Suresh Raina is a player that most people tend to associate with ODIs and T20s. The first image of him that forms in our mind is a player hitting the ball over mid wicket for a boundary, or coming out of the crease to hit a six. Seldom will somebody picture him defending the ball in a forward defensive stance. Therefore, to say that he has mostly belonged to limited overs cricket or more specifically faster formats of the game, wouldn’t be too erroneous.
ODI and T20 Giant
Suresh Raina’s achievements as an ODI and T20 player are well spoken of. His statistics speak for themselves. An average of 35.35 in ODIs and 34 in T20s at a strike rate of 91 and 128 respectively are enough to force the opposition to take him seriously. Also, he is a man for big tournaments. Despite being left out for the initial part of India’s World Cup campaign in 2011, Raina proved to be Dhoni’s trump card.
He was selected for the knock-out stages over hard-hitting Yusuf Pathan. His support to Yuvraj Singh in the quarter finals against Australia and his unbeaten 36 runs off 39 deliveries with tailenders against Pakistan helped India to score 260 runs, a game which India won by 29 runs. Therefore, his contributions lower down the order are vital and in the many cases match-winning.
Though, in ODIs he has harboured ambitions of batting up the order, he has always had to contend with the needs of the team more than anything else. He always has to come at a tricky batting position of no.5 and a match situation where the team is in trouble. Despite having hardly any scope to make a huge personal score, he has 3 ODI centuries and 29 ODI fifties to his name.
However in T20s, his contributions are more visible. In the shortest format, Raina’s ability to accelerate at will has always come to the fore whenever he has played for any team, be it India or his IPL team Chennai Super Kings.
His shot-making ability and running between the wickets make him a very busy player who is difficult to contain. However, despite all his achievements and credentials, he is overshadowed by the likes of players like Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni.
He calmly arrives, absorbs pressure, does the hitting part and mostly takes the team over the line. Also, his fielding is the cherry on top which makes him a compelling selection in both the formats.
Without a shred of doubt, Raina is an ODI heavyweight and a T20 colossus who cannot be taken for granted by opposition teams.
Technical Shortcomings
Many argue that he is one of the most dangerous batsmen in the shorter formats of the game but only if the team is playing in subcontinental conditions. A very well known weakness, is his shortcoming against the short ball.
This was very clearly exposed during India’s tour of England in 2011 just after his great showing in the World Cup. When the England bowlers saw him struggle against anything near the ribs, the news did not take long to move to other teams. Whenever Raina came out to bat, every fast bowler’s eyes lighted up, and even the medium pacers went for his one great weak spot as they had no qualms in pitching everything short.
Against such deliveries Raina is seen hopping as he tries to steer, hook and pull the ball in vain as he is unable to keep his feet on the crease while attempting the shots.
This is something that he is working on very hard, taking bouncers and relentless short pitched bowling in the nets. One must say, that he has improved a lot since the England series as he managed to hook and pull a few deliveries over the boundary line against South Africa in the ODI series that concluded late last year. However, the short ball again, was his downfall as he was unable to play the delivery consistently.
Also, recently he has found a new teacher and motivator in the former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, an elegant left-handed batsman himself and also someone who could empathize with problems faced with short deliveries. Ganguly has advised Raina to not only concentrate on the technique of playing the delivery but also on the mindset with which one approaches short-pitched bowling. The success of the advice by Dada would be seen only when he implements in the matches to come.
Till then, one thing is for sure, that opposition teams wouldn’t hesitate to bang it in short and would know that very soon something will give. Teams would continue strategizing against him till he learns to play the short ball consistently well.