India left-handed colleague Suresh Raina announced a sudden retirement from international cricket last week. Raina’s announcement came just minutes after former Indian captain MS Dhoni announced his decision to hang up his international boots. Both Raina and Dhoni have posted messages on Instagram to reveal their decisions. Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra said Raina’s announcement was completely unexpected.
‘This was actually a bump out of the blue. And there are 2-3 reasons for that. At first Raina is only 33 years old, so he’s pretty young, “Chopra said in the latest video uploaded to his Youtube channel.
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“The second thing is that we recently had an interview with Suresh Raina, in which he regularly said that he was looking to play again for India. He said he did his best and he would score a lot of runes. He said he felt stronger after his knee surgery and hit the ball well, “said the former India batsman.
“I was very happy because Raina is a special player and there were two T20 World Championships in two years, so why not Raina. “Thirty-three is not the age for a man as fit as Suresh Raina,” he added.
‘And then he posted videos on Instagram etc, where he practiced regularly and put in a lot of effort. When you see that someone put so much effort into it, you feel that it will happen. In fact, the only thing I was looking forward to was playing for CSK and scoring a lot of runs and forcing the selectors to pick him, ”Chopra continued.
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Chopra recalled the achievements Raina made during his cricketing career, saying he was not treated well in the ODIs by the Indian team. ‘He was the first Indian cricketer to score in a century in Tests, ODIs and T20Is. After KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma did the same, Virat Kohli has not done so yet, T20 century is still in the making. He scored a century on Test debut against Sri Lanka. After that, his test career was up and down, but he didn’t get as many chances, ”Chopra said.
‘If you look at the left-handers that India has produced so far, Suresh Raina’s name would be right there. He was one of the finest left-handed colleagues the country has produced, one of the best white ball cricketers the world has ever seen. If you also record his IPL figures, you will say a run-week match winner and absolutely a champion player, “he added.
‘There would be very few fielders that get you from his standard. He would be among the top 5, an all-round field star. Because there are a lot of fielders who do not fall well in the slips, but are good in the outside field like Jaddu. Ravindra Jadeja is a gunsmith, but it’s a little tricky in the panties. Even Jonty Rhodes could not catch on well in the panties. “Suresh was one of the best fielders the world has ever seen,” he continued.
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“Raina was also an under-rated bowler, the way he balled with a clean action, put the ball in one place and grabbed important wickets. It was like playing one extra man. I feel what happened to Suresh Raina in ODI cricket, everything was not right. Because he did not get a correct batting number. He did not get the position No.3 or No.4, he was always sent No.5 to No.7, “Chopra continued.
‘Sometimes he was sent up and then demoted. If you order something like this, you are often unable to secure your place. But this player secured his place and won our matches as well.
‘I actually remember the 2011 World Cup, where he played at No. 6 or No. 7 and did not hit. And then it came to a day against Australia in the quarter-finals, where Yuvraj Singh played a win of a match, but it was mandatory for someone to stand at the other end and score at run-a-ball to press Yuvraj Singh and that’s exactly what he did. We are thinking of that match for Yuvraj Singh, but Raina had a very big contribution to make, ‘he continued.
‘Raina deserves better. I think Raina could have been treated much better. Because when he also made a comeback, he scored 40-50 in one of the three games, I think, and in one game he did not stay out and was fired early in the other game. But he didn’t get a chance after that, “said Aakash Chopra.
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