Just a Little More that’s Expected From Raina’s Batting

Suresh Raina is an important utility for Indian limited overs team. It’s been few years now that he has been a stable member of the squad and has shown his worth on various occasions. But has Raina’s batting done justice to his talent? Whatever he has done, is it good enough by his standards? My answer is No, by just a margin.

I have a very recent example in hand. Against Bangladesh in the first ODI chasing 308, India was in serious pressure when Dhoni departed. 128 for the loss of five wickets. Raina toiled hard against Bangladesh attack. He slogged his way to 40 of 40 balls making a good partnership with Ravindra Jadeja. The key feature of the innings being couple of massive sixes. Well this has always been the case with Suresh Raina, hasn’t it? His major source of scoring and releasing pressure has been sixes. No doubt he has been brilliant with that. But after hitting a massive six he got out next ball bowled by the debutante Mustafizur Rehman.

 

Taking no credits away from the debutante, we move our focus to how Raina has fared in the recent past. There have of course been occasions like the World Cup match against Zimbabwe and the first ODI against England in the last English summer where Raina had taken India through by playing the lead role. But except that, his role has been limited to hitting those two sixes and getting bowled or finding a fielder with the next ball.

Raina becoming the player of 30s and 40s interms of scores is becoming a problem for India. When the top order do their task well, Raina’s small cameos become crucial for the team. Gary Kirsten rightly said about how Raina won India the 2011 World Cup with his 20s and 30s only in the knockout phase. Against Pakistan in the World Cup 2015 match, Raina showed another of his supreme best by hitting quick 70 odd runs and setting up a nice total. But again except that when scenerios like the first Bangladesh ODI happen, you just cannot count on Suresh Raina. With Jadeja batting at 7, the batting cannot be said deep in any senses. I mean a neutral person will support Raina here giving the examples where he fired blistering knocks and upped the team run rate. But my only concern is why can’t we rely on him, ever, when in a big chase, we end up losing the top order cheaply. Why can’t he hit some more runs than 30s or 40s when needed and why doesn’t the third attempted six ends up with Raina getting out somehow.

On the basis of promise shown Morgan and Raina are on a much similar level if we talk about skills. Raina is certainly no less than Eoin Morgan. When I saw Raina established in the team few years back, I wanted him to be what Eoin Morgan is for England. Had Raina done justice to everything, he would have been the choice for Dhoni’s deputy, if ever needed. He is still a valuable asset to India limited overs. Perhaps like Dean Jones was to the Allan Border’s Australian team. A brilliant fielder, a handy bowler and a team man. But within my heart, I just expect more. I have no idea whether or not others think the same, but Suresh Raina to me can do slightly better justice to what a real talent he actually is.