5 Indian players who could benefit from a stint in county cricket

There was a time when playing overseas meant a quiet stint in one of England’s various leagues, where you were left with only the game and your thoughts. It was akin to a pilgrimage, in the sense that you sought remedies and re-energized your spirit; you weren’t too far from the mecca of cricket, either. As a package, county cricket was the ultimate growth strategy – tests of both technique and maturity – and regarded as the final hurdle between a player hanging around at Test level and belonging to it.Of course, the quiet life and Test cricket have both lost the spotlight these days to the various T20 leagues around the world. This isn’t to say that they’re distractions; it’s a feature of the modern game and vital to the development of the modern player. However, the value of a domestic season in England hasn’t diminished.Certainly, Cheteshwar Pujara thinks so, having featured twice for Yorkshire this season already in a bid to overturn his poor Test form abroad. If India’s history with county cricket is anything to go by, Pujara will score runs by the hundreds when the Tests come along. India will welcome the runs, but if he kindles a trend to play domestic cricket in England, the benefits will be manifold. Some players, in particular, could benefit from it. Let’s take a look:

#1 Suresh Raina

It’s been 10 years since Suresh Raina made his international debut, but you wouldn’t be able to tell. He’s enjoyed a good amount of success in limited-overs cricket, and had an especially great run when he batted at No.3 in ODIs a few years ago. Since then, his role has turned into a finishing one and he’s only ever in the spotlight when he turns up for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

This lack of spotlight could be put down to his personality; but it might have a bit to do with the fact that since his century on Test debut in 2010, Raina has only an average of 26.48 to show. Raina is a senior in Indian cricket by age, but in 10 years, he’s never been identified as a stalwart or a reliable middle-order player.

He has age on his side, however, and at 30 years of age, probably one last shot at a Test career if he chooses to pull out of an IPL season to pursue county cricket. It’s fair to say that he was touted to be the batsman to fill Sourav Ganguly’s role in the Test line-up, but like many, he hasn’t done himself justice.