IPL 2018: Match 35, Player Battles – Suresh Raina vs Umesh Yadav

When it comes to the Indian Premier League (IPL), no batsman has bettered Suresh Raina’s consistency, grit and longevity that he turns up with every season. However, the left-hander hasn’t looked at his best in the ongoing edition despite raking up decent numbers to his name. Raina has scored 236 runs in eight innings at an average of 39.33 that includes two fifties. This season, Raina also missing a game for Chennai Super Kings which is also a first. One of his two fifties ended up in a losing cause while the other was overshadowed by Ambati Rayudu’s blitz.

The CSK star’s failures have been covered up with MS Dhoni’s brilliant form alongside Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson’s efforts at the top. After two defeats in three matches, the Super Kings will have to be little careful and ensure they don’t slip into a losing streak and end up short of a playoffs spot.

Raina bringing his A-game to the fore will be a perfect scenario for his team at this position. They will now face Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MCA Stadium in their 10th match of the season.

The RCB bowling has enough teeth to cut short Raina’s stay in the middle. The struggling team has a couple of pacers who can bounce Raina out and have the pace to make the left-hander struggle. They also have Yuzvendra Chahal who dismissed Raina four times in 57 balls conceding 79 runs in the IPL. The CSK vice-captain’s real conflict will be against Umesh Yadav who got him out the last time these two teams faced off.

Suresh Raina vs Umesh Yadav:

Umesh has dismissed Raina twice in the IPL thus far having bowled 79 balls at him. Raina, on the other hand, has managed to score 85 runs off the pacer at a strike rate of 107.6 and the dot-ball percentage is 55.7. It will be interesting to see how Raina responds to the Umesh challenge this time if he has to walk out to bat in the powerplay. RCB have been very keen in the using their premier pacer upfront and have been giving him at least three straight overs with the new ball.

(Stats as on May 4, 2018)