Is the clock ticking for Suresh Raina?

Is the clock ticking for Suresh Raina?: Suresh Raina made his ODI debut 10 years ago in 2005. A time, when the names Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli were unheard of, Shikhar Dhawan too had just completed his first season in Ranji Trophy. Raina started his ODI career with a golden duck against Sri Lanka and had an unimpressive series. He was then in and out of the Indian lineup, trying to find a place and bat wherever asked for a couple of years.

Under Dhoni’s leadership, though he became a permanent fixture in the side since 2008, Raina then was only a 21-year-old youngster. His promising 1^st year in the IPL pinned a lot of hopes on him and he had a good year for team India, scoring 680 runs at an average of 45.33. Next few years too Raina managed to keep his place in the side, while a lot of youngsters such as Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Kartik, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Manoj Tiwary got their fair share of the limelight due to their IPL success, but Raina was a prolific run scorer and is still the highest run getter there. His place had never come under scrutiny and his captain at CSK and in the national team, MS Dhoni backed him at all times.

Since 2010, Kohli became a regular fixture in the Indian side and Rohit Sharma too got a lot of chances. Just like Raina these two also had to fight to get a desired position in the batting line-up. But that is where the similarities end. Kohli has gone on to become one of the best in the world, Rohit and Dhawan have become India’s permanent opening partners since 2013 Champion’s Trophy and have done considerably well at the top. Rahane too has done quite well and even though his chances were limited, and is still without a permanent batting position.

Raina, on the other hand, hasn’t quite become the match winner everyone expected him to be owing to his IPL form. Even after a decade of playing international cricket, he fails to instill the confidence in both his captain and the audience that he will successfully finish the game for India. This year has been rather erratic for the Indian batting with only Rohit Sharma being the beacon of light. While Dhawan and Kohli are proven match winners and Rahane still new to ODI cricket, it will really be disastrous for India if they keep investing in Raina who had his best year 7 years ago.

He has played 221 matches at an average of 35.50, no other top cricketing nation would have persisted with such a player. There is no denying that Raina on his day can win the game for his team but statistically, those days have been few and far between. Let us take a case of Rayudu, who in the limited chances he’s got averages 45.33 and he has been a clinical finisher for Mumbai Indians for the last 5 years, considering Raina’s IPL form is what keeps him in the side most of the times.

The problem with Raina is his attitude. He believes that his captain will always back him no matter what the situation. That should change, in this South Africa series only Dhoni and Harbhajan were the player who had played more ODIs than him. Raina is a senior player now, he should be playing with some maturity. Instead, he has come to the wicket in difficult situations and played inexplicable shots to get himself out.

In the 3^rd ODI, his dismissal was an action replay of the way he got out in the 1^st ODI, while he could have easily rotated the strike and let the settled batsman on the other end to play the big shots. Though he got a good fifty in the 4^th ODI, in the 5^th ODI he again showed why he is undependable. The way he got out, behind his legs to a fast bowler is rather laugh worthy. He scored just 68 runs in 5 innings at an average of 13.80 shows that he still is quite inconsistent and his shot making quite immature.

Even after such failures while Raina continues to find a place for himself in the XI, what I can’t understand is why isn’t the stick same for everyone? Rahane was dropped after a poor couple of games in Bangladesh while Raina is still there. I think it is about time India should realize that he needs time to go back to domestic cricket and rediscover himself. The selectors should rather invest in youngsters like Sreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Gurkeerat Singh or give Ambati Rayudu a good run who has been waiting in the wings for a couple of years and for that matter even Yuvraj Singh who is a proven match winner for India for a decade and a half. Sunil Gavaskar too has urged the selectors to give Yuvraj a look in and not let his age be a factor in his selection.

The next couple of months are really crucial for both Raina and Dhoni as people are quickly losing patience and there is a need to act. India next travel to Australia in January and until then Raina will have to prove and justify his selection by playing some good cricket in Ranji Trophy as you can’t be an inconsistent performer at the highest level for one of the most talented batting lineups in the world. I really hope that Raina either performs or perishes and doesn’t simply linger on at the back of his mediocrity.

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