Suresh Raina – the prolific ‘finisher’

Suresh Raina – the prolific ‘finisher’: The South African team, currently in India for the Mahatma Gandhi – Nelson Mandela Series, begin their official commitments with the first of the three-match T20 International to be played on 2^nd October 2015, at HPCA Grounds, Dharmashala.

Team India also has been training hard for this series. They are trying to put behind them, the disappointments and the adversaries they had faced in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2014-15, the tri-nation ODI series and the World Cup 2015.

An ODI series victory against Zimbabwe and a memorable Test series victory against Sri Lanka on their soil, after a gap of more than two decades have injected the necessary enthusiasm and energy to the dressing room and the boys are raring to go.

Although the entire team is expected to perform well, the focus for the shorter formats of the game falls on two key players – the skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the southpaw, Suresh Raina.

Dhoni has not played much competitive cricket post the disastrous tour to Bangladesh. However, he has been training hard and gearing up himself for the tough series.

28-year old Suresh Kumar Raina, tied the knot with Priyanka Chaudhury in April 2015, just prior to the IPL.

A much-needed break came for him, post the disastrous Bangladesh tour when, accompanied by his better-half, he set off to the Netherlands for a period of two months.

Though it was a period of holiday for him, Raina kept in touch with his regular training and the game by playing club cricket over there.

Speaking to bcci.tv Raina said the ‘break’ has helped him to relax and fine tune his cricket leading to the preparations for the upcoming Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela series.

He said, “I spent quality time with my wife and in-laws. I was in a relaxed mode and at the same time was focused on my game and fitness. I practised with the Dutch cricket team in Amsterdam at their camp and faced a lot of quality bowlers.

“I spent a lot of time polishing my fielding skills – taking catches at point. I also did meditation and yoga, a lot of running in the park and cycling. The kind of routine I had there, helped me stay relaxed mentally and active physically. I spent a lot of time with the Dutch team, going to barbeques, playing football and hockey. It was a crucial break for me because, after my marriage, I had hardly got to spend any time with my wife. It makes a lot of difference.”

Returning from the vacation he was inducted into India A squad for a three-match ODI series against the visiting Bangladesh A squad.

Interacting with the reporters ahead of the series, Raina had said, “Its good three quality international games. We need to go out there and play really well and we just need to be disciplined. I’ve been doing it for the last 10-15 years. It’s a good practice game. I can’t actually say it’s a practice game because we have lost a series to Bangladesh. And India A has done well in the last couple of series, so we need to play really well”.

“We need to play games. We haven’t played much after the Bangladesh series. For practice, I’ve played club cricket. It’s a big opportunity and I’m very positive, I’ve worked really hard and I am getting ready for the big series”, he added.

The series did not start well for him. Having scored just 16 runs in the first and 17 runs in the second encounter, Raina needed a big score to regain confidence.

He got his chance in the third and final match. A 90-ball 104 runs with the help of 9 fours and a six at a strike rate of 110.6, put to rest all speculations of him being ‘rusty’. His innings helped India A win the match and clinch the series.

Speaking to bcci.tv, expressing satisfaction at his performance, the stylish southpaw said, “I am thankful to the BCCI and the selectors for picking me to play in this series. I have done a lot of batting in the nets in the last two months but could not get a lot of match practice. After all this training, what I really needed was some match practice before going into the South Africa series. These three one-day games were perfect for that. Getting a century in the last match was crucial for me in getting my batting rhythm”.

“The best thing about playing the ‘A’ series was that I got a chance to interact with Rahul Dravid on my batting and mindset. I have played under him, got my ODI and Test caps from him and he has seen me very closely for years. Most of my conversations with him were about the mental aspect of the game”, he added.

Meanwhile it was observed that Dhoni wanted to promote himself to bat up the order. He wants to bat at No 4, the customary position of Raina.

Dhoni, all along, has been donning the role of a ‘finisher’ and has been doing it in style. However, since he has expressed his desire to promote himself up the order, the responsibility of ‘finishing’ games now squarely fall on the southpaw.

Reacting to the news of shift in the batting order, Raina told bcci.tv “If MS (Dhoni) decides to bat at 4 regularly, it will only benefit the team. It will make life easier for the batsmen to follow. He can build the innings with the top-order and accelerate with the lower-middle order”.

“No.5 and 6 are not easy positions to bat at. You go out there and have to score 15 runs in five balls or 50 in 20 balls. It is a position that comes with a lot of pressure. You don’t get regular chances to bat long and even then if you don’t score big in three games, there is pressure from everywhere”.

“At home I might not get a chance to bat, might get 10-15 overs or only 10 balls. But I am prepared for it. I know what my role is. I have batted everywhere except the opening positions, so I know how to bat where. I enjoy that responsibility. MS knows my game inside out and I would be happy to play whatever role he deems is right for me”.

In fact both Dhoni and Raina have earned the reputation of being great finishers. They have the ability and caliber to stay put together under any circumstances and bail the team out of ‘troubled waters’.

Individually they adopt a different playing style but put together under pressure they prove to be a ‘super saver combination’.

Going by the numbers, they are the best successful batting pair while chasing in ODIs. They average a phenomenal 102.6 and both have scored over 1000 runs in 18 successful run chases while batting together.

Batting at No 4, Raina had the responsibility of anchoring and consolidating the innings, in case of fall of early wickets.

With the shift to either No 5 or No 6, the focus changes a bit, in the sense that he may not get many overs / deliveries to play.

More often than not, he would have the company of the tailenders and hence he would be required to rely more on his ‘hard-hitting’ abilities and score fast. He would also be required to ‘stay put’ till the end.

Hopefully the fully recharged and rejuvenated Raina would rise to the occasion and don the mantle of a prolific finisher and live up to the expectations of the Indian cricket fans.