Suresh Raina hoping against all odds to make comeback for T20 World Cup 2020

After India failed to lift the ICC World Cup 2019 in England, the Men in Blue immediately shifted their attention to the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia later this year. Team India’s preparation began with the T20I series against West Indies in August last year and is still continuing in the series against New Zealand.

With the rotation of players in different roles and giving chances to as many of them as possible, the Indian thinktank is not leaving any stone unturned in their preparation for the mega event. Last year’s 50-overs World Cup saw the team struggling in the middle-order and that is the reason why Viray Kohli & Co have put extra efforts to rectify the area.

With Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey, it looks more or less settled and if one adds Hardik Pandya, who is recovering from an injury, to the list, team India will be in a much better position with their middle-order ahead of the T20 World Cup.

Suresh Raina eyeing IPL to make international comeback

However, there was one batsman who once used to be a regular name in the middle-order of the limited-overs line-up but got lost with the advent of fresh talents. Despite facing a prolonged struggle to find a consistent name in those positions, old horse Suresh Raina was never reconsidered for the position.

One of the most successful T20 batsmen, Raina is still hoping, and against all odds, to make a comeback into the team ahead of the World Cup in Australia. The veteran left-hander, who had surgery in August last year, has been out of cricket for some time. But he is eyeing the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) as the platform to make his case for the quadrennial event.

“I have always enjoyed my cricket, irrespective of where I play. I have not set any targets right now. If I am able to do well in the IPL, I will be able to understand how I am shaping up. I have played enough to know what the situation demands. So my T20 World Cup hopes depend on my performance in the IPL. If I can make my knee strong and have a good IPL, then I know that I have another 2-3 years of cricket left in me. There are two back-to-back T20 World Cups. I have done well in T20 cricket,” Raina was quoted as saying by Times Now.

Much like Raina, his Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has also decided to make IPL the platform to force his way into the minds of the national selectors. Thus it will be interesting to see if the veterans of the Indian cricket will be able to put a show in the CSK colours and get a final chance to don the national jersey or not.