On February 20, 2008, at the first auction in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Chennai Super Kings made arguably the largest purchase in the history of the competition, taking home Suresh Raina for $ 650,000. But what if the franchise had decided to bypass the flamboyant southpaw?
We know that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bought Suresh Raina for 5.2 times its base price ($ 125,000) and we know that it turned out to be an eye-opening move not only for the franchise, but for Indian cricket as a whole. Raina’s ridiculous consistency saw him earn the “Don Bradman of IPL” tag from fans and for several years his otherworldly form for the Chennai-based franchise also translated into races for the Indian national team. But what if Raina’s love affair with CSK never happened in the first place? What if the franchise had decided to bypass the southpaw?
The date is February 20, 2008 and after having secured MS Dhoni, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey and Stephen Fleming, Chennai lay motionless as auctioneer Richard Madley called out the name of 21-year-old Suresh Raina. Instead, in pursuit of the young man are Indians from Mumbai (MI) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who engage in an unbridled bidding war for the prodigal hitter from Uttar Pradesh. KKR is desperate and determined to get the 21-year-old, but after spending cash on the likes of Ricky Ponting and Brendon McCullum, SRK & Co. cedes the batter to Mumbai, who buys Raina for $ 750,000.
Acquired as a mid-level hitter, a premature injury to club starter and captain Sachin Tendulkar forces IM management to promote Raina to the starting position and the youngster is informed of the decision minutes before the first IPL match against RCB thanks to backup skipper Shaun Pollock who, until the draw, was considering opening with Kiwi Luke Ronchi. The management and the captain don’t have high hopes for Raina in the first game, but the youngster surprises by forming an impeccable chemistry with his teammate Sanath Jayasuriya. Together, in the first half of the season, the duo unite five partnerships of fifty races in seven games and, while it is Sri Lanka’s that gets all the attention, Raina nevertheless carves a niche with an average of 32.50 in the first seven games. .
However, despite consistently scoring, Raina’s failure to convert the starts leads to him being pushed to the middle order by management, who have no doubts opening with the icons Tendulkar and Jayasuriya posting the return of Little Master of a injury. The move pays dividends for Mumbai, which wins each of its next three games, but hurts Raina, who ends up recording a series of single-digit scores: 3, 0 and 1. A fourth consecutive miss, a three-ball duck. against KXIP, MI drops Raina to accommodate 19-year-old Manish Pandey at # 4 against Delhi in 2008 IPL Match 50, and the youngster sends shockwaves throughout the entire tournament in his first match, scoring an astonishing 114 to become the first and the youngest Indian to score a ton in the competition.
Manish Pandey’s outrageous coup has Raina heating up the bench for the rest of the season and thus, knowing that his opportunities will be limited, MI graciously traded the 22-year-old to KKR, the club that desperately wanted him in the league. auction, before the IPL. 2009. Raina sees the KKR play as a potential door to salvation, but a combination of a packed higher order and Ganguly’s reluctance to sideline means the youngster has only 5 games all season, in which he manages a total of only 85 races.
Ignoring Raina’s form and lack of playing time, the Indian selectors choose the southpaw for the 2009 T20 World Cup in England on sheer potential, but surprisingly, to their own horror, 10, 5, 2 and 3 is all. what the 22-year-old achieves. score in his four outings in the tournament. Then management gave Raina one last lifeline in the tri-series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Colombo, but if he fails to keep his boat afloat, the selectors inevitably omit him from the team for the 2009 Champions Trophy.
When the Champions Trophy rolls around, India is in trouble in their opening group match against Pakistan, with 133/4 chasing 303, but they are rescued by an unexpected hero in the form of Laxmi Ratan Shukla. But where did it come from? While Raina went to KKR, Shukla went the other way around to Mumbai and his very good 2008 Vijay Hazare season – average of 40.00 with the bat and 8 wickets with the ball – along with his extraordinary IPL season – 374 runs and 15 wickets – saw the SUV return to the national team after 10 long years.
However, Shukla was not the only hero of the night, as it was, in fact, a 42 * rapid-fire shot from 23-year-old Manoj Tiwary that initially helped India mitigate the threat from Umar Gul, Mohammad Amir and Rana. Naved. Tiwary was also someone Mumbai imported (they traded him for Abhishek Nayar with Delhi) and, along with Shukla, the young man had propelled MI to the 2009 IPL final. It was Tiwary’s 487-run season at the 2009 IPL, along with his 373-race stint in the 2008 Vijay Hazare Trophy season, allowing the selectors to speed up the 23-year-old.
A failure against Australia advances India to the Champions Trophy semi-final, but they find themselves in a much, much tighter affair in the semi-final against the Kiwis at the Wanderers. Chasing 234, the Kiwis have firm control of the match at 166/4, but the game turns heads, in favor of India, thanks to a direct hit from substitute Manish Pandey, who sends the dangerous Grant Elliot. back to the pavilion. Pandey, by the way, sneaked into the team by winning the Emerging Player award at IPL 2009. An energetic Indian team overcame the Kiwi threat, but was impressed in Shane Watson’s century-long final.
Returning to the IPL, CSK, before the 2010 auction, finally let go of Robin Uthappa, who had been spent money on the first edition of the tournament, and instead set his sights on the great success of Kieron Pollard. Finally, they manage to secure the services of the Trinidadian, whom Mumbai did not pursue because they already had a half-full order. Pollard fights in the Chepauk minefields and thus, to combat the same thing, Captain MSD deploys the great man as an ‘absent specialist’. Tactics are unpredictable throughout the group stage, but CSK bears fruit from the tactical masterclass in knockouts when Pollard, on flat Mumbai terrain, scores 84 * (29) and 55 * (18) to deliver. to CSK its first IPL title. – with a victory over MI in the final.
A disappointing performance in the next T20 World Cup, particularly by the seniors, shakes Dhoni, who, months before the 2011 World Cup, makes a phone call to the selectors and urges them to eliminate the underperforming senior players. Dhoni’s strong words reflect the actions of the selectors, who announce that they are leaving Yuvraj Singh, who averaged 27.95 in ODIs 14 months before the announcement, out of the 2011 World Cup team.
The backlash for Yuvraj’s omission is strong, particularly on social media, therefore, two weeks before the World Cup, Dhoni calls for an impromptu press conference. Fans and journalists await a resignation, but Dhoni takes a seat, utters the words: “I have done it before (win a World Cup with untested youth) and I will do it again,” and leaves.
Dhoni’s slogan is also present in the mind of Suresh Raina, who is confident that he will be able to return to the Indian team. This time, however, it’s in red ball cricket and Raina knows her head is in the right place, having come out of the mega IPL 2011 auction to pursue her dream of wearing white.
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