5 active Indian cricketers who are never going to get a national call-up
Some of these players didn't use their opportunities wisely and now their return to the internationals is beyond the bounds of possibility.
4. Suresh Raina
Sometimes numbers don’t do justice to the contributions of an individual and that’s why Suresh Raina can be called an unsung hero of the Indian team. The southpaw made his debut at the age of 19 and showed his power-hitting abilities. At first, he used to be a floater in the side and his athleticism on the field was a bonus.
Then gradually he became an integral part of the team and provided the required balance to the skipper with his all-round abilities. He also found some success in red-ball cricket. In T20Is, he became the first Indian batsman to stroke a century. Raina was instrumental in a couple of ICC championship wins and under Dhoni’s leadership he turned out to be a real match-winner.
It was all going merrily until his short ball weakness came to the fore. Since then Raina has lost vigour in his batting and has only made occasional appearances for Men in Blue. Last year he was the part of the team which lost the ODI series in England. He faced the axe again after a couple of below-par outings and even in this year’s IPL his performances were not up to the mark. At 32 Raina’s comeback to the senior team is not impossible but he will have to fight for his place in a pool of talented youngsters.
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