Military officer Trilokchand Raina’s mastery of bomb making in an artillery factory only earned him a paltry salary of Rs 10,000 a month. Not enough to give wings to your son Suresh’s cricket dreams. But, more than two decades after those days of fighting, hard work, determination and luck, Raina recently ended his professional career as an international cricketer with great success.
Around the time he dreamed of making a career playing cricket, fees at sports academies in Delhi ranged from Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000 per month. And the eight-member Raina family found themselves in a bind until they found out about Guru Gobind Singh Sports College in Lucknow.
The rest, as they say, is history. “Dad was in the military, my older brother is also in the military. Dad used to make bombs in an artillery factory. He was a master at it,” Raina said of her father in Neelesh Misra’s The Slow Interview.
ALSO READ: Suresh Raina’s Uncle Killed by Thieves in Punjab’s Pathankot
“He took care of the families of the soldiers who had died. His was a very emotional job. It was tough, making sure the money orders went and received all the government benefits for which they were eligible,” said Raina, nicknamed Sonu. .
Seeking to provide a safe environment for his family, Trilokchand had left everything in Rainawari in Jammu and Kashmir following the massacre of the Kashmiri pandits in the 1990s. But, having settled in UP’s Muradnagar, life was by no means easy for the Raina family.
“He always felt that his principle in life was if you live, you live for others. If you only live for yourself, that is not living.
ALSO READ: Fear of COVID-19 Situation at CSK Camp Forced Suresh Raina to Return Home – Report
“I used to gamble and then there was no money. Dad made ten thousand rupees. We were five brothers and one sister.
“Then I came to be tried at Guru Gobind Singh Sports College in Lucknow in 1998. We couldn’t handle 10,000 at that time.
“The fee was 5000 rupees for a year, so Dad said he could afford it. I didn’t want anything, I said to let me play and study.”
Raina says she is always careful to say anything that reminds her father of the tragedy in Kashmir.
“There are certain things that my father does not want to remember, what happened to the Brahmins of Kashmir. So Dad thought it was better to bring his family to a safe environment, that was one of the most difficult decisions Dad made.
“He had a house there and his brothers. It was a wise decision, he had four children and then I was born.”
And although she had been to Kashmir in recent years, Raina did not reveal it to her family, especially her father.
“I have been two or three times in the LOC. I went with Mahi bhai, we have quite a few friends who are commandos.
“So whenever there were shows, I didn’t tell him. He was scared. Scared that he might relive it in his mind.”
“And that he would be worried that something would happen to me because he himself had seen the dangers there.”
Moving on to cricket, Raina recalled a piece of advice that Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni gave them when preparations for the 2011 World Cup began: not to share any national team tactic with their IPL teammates from abroad.
ALSO READ: ‘The heart goes out to you Suresh Raina, CSK will miss you so much’, says Shane Watson
“Dhoni started this, Sachin Tendulkar also said don’t reveal anything to anyone, because the World Cup was coming. This started in 2008-09. In 2008, we won the tri-national series in Australia. In 2009, we won in New Zealand. In 2010 we won in Sri Lanka. And then the World Cup. “
He was full of praise for hitting the great Rahul Dravid, saying that his contribution to Indian cricket is second to none.
“Rahul Dravid contributed a lot to the winning streak of Indian cricket from 2008 to 2011. He was a very strong and very disciplined leader.
“He does his job and he doesn’t care about the fruits, but I think that the fruits that the Indian team got was due to their hard work. That’s a very good definition of him.”
In regards to his mentor Dhoni, Raina said that what distinguishes the recently retired captain who won two World Cups was his honesty and selfless attitude.
“He is a great captain. And he is a very good friend. And what he has accomplished in the game, I think he is the number one captain in the world. He is also the best human being in the world. Because he has his feet on the ground.”
“His feats are good. I have spent millions of days with him, traveling, playing, he is very honest with his team. His honesty shows in his game. When he plays for the country, he always has his 10 men ahead and he stays “. behind. It’s disinterested. “
Raina followed Dhoni into the international retreat, and they both decided to quit the same day.
Raina added: “Dhoni made sure the players weren’t distracted by all the fame and money. He sat down with the team, discussed our performance, how to keep us humble, he became a great brand.”
“But he showed us how to do our job and act. From his eyes, I could see it’s two races.”
.
