The Gentleman from Ghaziabad

With the advent of IPL, there is more money at stake. With money already in the bank, the desire to sweat it out excessively to reach the top has gone for a toss with several talented cricketers.

Sport always turns its fascinating face when a young boy takes up the fight against the big men. Boys always have a great attitude to work with. Boys have innocence and ingenuity to add to their prolific profile. When cat-like moustaches take up the challenges against wolverines of sport, it automatically makes us root for the kid. There are many stories where men have showed their power and arrogance to overpower the boys. But, that never excites us.

The story of a 16 year old Sachin Tendulkar face a hostile Pakistani bowling attack in Pakistan is now part of the folklore. The story of an 18 year old Yuvraj Singh take the attack to the much famed Australian attack of McGrath, Gillespie and Lee is always a pleasure to hear. Mohammed Aamer’s success everywhere makes experts from Down Under to Cricket’s headquarters go gaga about him. There is always a charm about a teenager’s success in the league of men. It is a pleasing sight, to say the least.

Five years ago, when this UP batsman made his debut at Dambulla against the Lankan attack, the 18 year old did not have a clue against Muralitharan. He made an ignominious entrance into the international arena as he lasted just two balls and did not even trouble the scorers.

But within a day, he showed little bit of what he is made of with his trademark cover drives against West Indies. The kid, who we first saw five years ago, has made a statement this week as he made his test debut against the Lankans.

There is always something about Suresh Raina that enlivens his fans. Raina has a touch of class since the day he debuted for India. But, at Colombo he displayed an unusual stroke of temperament, calmness and steady head under pressure.

Those who are desperate to succeed with honest effort and hard work would probably be the most blessed. Raina typically falls into this category, unlike some of his peers.

Harsha Bhogle had some time back commented about how tough India’s situation would be when the likes of Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar would go off the scene. He also talked about Raina saying that his domestic record does not command a place to earn a test call up.  Bhogle, a much respected figure in cricketing circles went on to add, “If the bowler is at the top of his run, Raina will not look forward to a bouncer from him. Indeed, part of the reason India had to go back to Dravid for the Champions Trophy was that the new generation, the Rainas and the Rohits, found the short ball a little too hot to handle.”

While Raina hasn’t yet convincingly proved Bhogle’s comment wrong, he has at least showed that he has the temperament and values the India cap very much. While Dilhara Fernando’s short stuff were handled with some awkwardness, Raina was never lured into the slog shot towards midwicket, a release shot he often uses in limited overs cricket and in turn leads to his downfall. Quite often, the urge to score quick runs has made Raina play this shot.

However, his century was a fantastic display of neat defence against quality spin and an excellent mixture of aggression and patience. Raina made it to the crease when India was in a very precarious position, a position Sachin Tendulkar knows very well after 20 years. For Raina, this was the second chance life gave him. While he made it 64-5 at Dambulla, the Raina of 2010 ensured that he thread a huge partnership with his hero, Tendulkar.

Those who are desperate to succeed with honest effort and hard work would probably be the most blessed. Raina typically falls into this category, unlike some of his peers. He got his ODI cap from Rahul Dravid. Five years later, he received his test cap from Dravid in the same country while he scored the hundred, which people will keep talking for years to come, with Sachin Tendulkar on the other end. History will tell – Suresh Raina joined forces with Sachin Tendulkar to deny Sri Lanka an outright victory at SSC. There is nothing satisfying for someone like Raina to read this line again and again. By his own admission, he craves to gain the respect he would get by playing test matches.

When Tendulkar made his first test hundred, Suresh Raina was just 3 years old. That in itself tells what Suresh Raina would have felt when he batted around the legend. The fact that youngsters of today grew up watching Tendulkar, makes this story of fan meets idol even more fascinating.

There is an air of humility with Suresh Raina. He tries to work on the game every day. As professionals, it is only expected that cricketers iron out their weaknesses and build on their strengths over time. But, attitude is a soft skill players should have in-built in them. The pompous display of young India cricketers is not a new story we hear nowadays. With the economic boom happening in India over the past 20 years, the cricketers aren’t exactly out of the lower middle class community. Some of them are reasonably well off and when they are under limelight, somehow miss the bus that takes them to the next level.

With the advent of IPL, there is more money at stake. With money already in the bank, the desire to sweat it out excessively to reach the top has gone for a toss with several talented cricketers. Players of today show off, get into pub-brawls, display arrogance towards journalists and at times display grandiosity with utmost ease while forgetting the qualities some of their stars had in them day in and day out. Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Kumble never made noise with their off field activities. On the field, they displayed perfect sportsmanship and never shouted the “F” word after winning tournaments.

Even though, Raina might not be as sagacious as his heroes, Dravid and Sachin, because of the environment he grew in, the attitude he displays on and off the field is fantastic. Matthew Hayden doesn’t call Raina, a true ambassador of Indian cricket and India for nothing. There is something in Raina that impresses Hayden who goes on to say – “I want to take this opportunity personally to congratulate my friend Suresh Raina on being an outstanding ambassador for Indian Cricket and for India as a whole. There seemed an inevitability about Suresh’s individual success – both making his Test debut for India and now his debut Test Century. The star of Suresh Raina is a bright one and one that is not going to fade quickly, and one that is fuelled by all of his champion qualities including his love of family, his commitment and dedication, and his respect for the game and his fellow team mates. Congratulations Suresh!”

But, there is something that he owns for himself and is something many of his peers need immediately – a fantastic attitude mixed with humility towards the game, a concoction that will definitely take him to greatness in the future leaving all other behind.

Life has never been easy for Raina. He had to miss his sister’s wedding to score a swashbuckling hundred for East Zone in Deodhar Trophy. He had to stay away from his home very early in life to reach this position in his career. The time he spent away from family, he had to take complete care of himself, something kids of that age would expect their parents to do. This, in a way, helped him build a strong mental framework very early in his life. Nothing could stop Raina from practicing in Lucknow’s Sports Hostel. He had to endure the ragging from his seniors at a time when he had reached his teens. Lucknow is famous for its extreme weather, be it the hot summer or the biting cold winter. The lad from Ghaziabad simply kept on going.

To earn the test cap from Rahul Dravid, score a debut hundred with Tendulkar in the middle and later to get another baggy blue cap from Sehwag as a token of appreciation would mean so much for Raina. Deep down his heart, there will be a sense of satisfaction, for this is exactly what he wanted and put all his hard work for about ten years now. He would also know how much these events would increase the weight of expectations as time passes.

While Sanu, as he is fondly called, has passed the test of temperament and patience in his first test, he would need to prove himself against better set of bowlers and hostile conditions. Over time, he would definitely improve on all this because gifted batsmen like him are born to rewrite record books. But, there is something that he owns for himself and is something many of his peers need immediately – a fantastic attitude mixed with humility towards the game, a concoction that will definitely take him to greatness in the future leaving all other behind.