Come to think of it, it's been a decade since we first came across Suresh Raina. A compact left-hander who proved that the future of Indian cricket lay in the small towns and not necessarily the big cities, he impressed one and all with his aggressive instincts and attractive strokeplay.
Come to think of it, it's been a decade since we first came across Suresh Raina. A compact left-hander who proved that the future of Indian cricket lay in the small towns and not necessarily the big cities, he impressed one and all with his aggressive instincts and attractive strokeplay.
Born and bred in Ghaziabad but battle-hardened at the sports hostel in Lucknow, Raina's game has been typified by commitment and strength, both physical and mental. And after 213 ODIs and several heroic innings and flops alike, he has more than 5,316 runs with five hundreds and 34 fifties to boot.
But when you think Raina, you don't actually think of Raina the swashbuckler. You visualise Raina the fielder and Raina the team man. But every now and then, he reminds you that he can bat and bat well.
On Wednesday, Raina spoke of all these aspects. First, he touched upon the mazza (joy) of fielding. Then, he spoke of the chhoti-chhoti cheezen (little things) that matter in cricket. In the end, he threw light on the pressures of batting lower down the order.
"You expect every ball to come to you. You want to do something different. Sometimes, I get to bat in the 49th over, sometimes in the 40th over and sometimes in the 20th over. So, after 50 overs, when I go back to the dressing room, I want to feel I've done something special for the team. It could be taking a diving catch or taking the bowler's sweater and handing it over to the umpire so that he gets 10 seconds of relief. These are little things, but they're important. Ajju (Ajinkya Rahane) and I do this quite a bit. It's about enjoying; it's about encouraging each other and celebrating together. You look lively and happy and you keep the others amused. It takes the pressure off them," he said on the eve of the quarterfinal against Bangladesh.
In Auckland the other night, he scored a brilliant century to ensure India entered the knockouts with their all-win record intact. It wasn't a chanceless innings, so to speak, but who plays such knocks in ODI cricket anyway? But what mattered to Raina more was that the team won. "I know that if I play till the 50th over, the team can get those extra 20-25 runs. Sometimes, you play a shot and you get out; sometimes, you manage to convert it. It's not difficult. If the team wins, you're satisfied. I wouldn't call it frustrating, but the goals I set for myself are such. I have scored (only) five hundreds after having played so many games. But you cannot expect that in that situation (when I come out to bat lower down the order). The team wins, and that's important," he explained.
Raina has batted at almost every position from No. 3 to No. 7. Against Pakistan in this World Cup, he was sent in at No. 4. And he delivered. Admitting that he does what the captain and coach ask him to do, Raina said, "Whatever team needs me to do, I need to prepare myself because, at the end the day, if Team India wins that's important than you batting at No. 4, No. 5, No. 6 or whatever it is. You need to give your best shot."
Stressing on the need for his mates to "express" themselves against Bangladesh on Thursday, Raina said he was happy for the Asian teams especially after the kind of stuff that was said and written before the start of the tournament.
Crediting Dhoni and some others for the improvements in his game, he said, "I have improved as a player. I have learnt a lot from MS, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif. I played a lot of matches with them. So, at the same time, I know what sort of batting I need to do in ODI cricket. I think I have become more mature after 2011. I played all the crucial games, quarterfinal, semifinal and final."
Yes, he did. In fact, Gary Kirsten had said at a corporate event in Singapore that India won the World Cup because of Raina's efforts in the quarterfinal against Australia and semifinal against Pakistan. The truth is he didn't even score a half-century in either game. But such was the impact of his contribution that it prompted the former India coach to give him a huge compliment.
Now a senior pro, he is the heartbeat of this team. The mazza, the choti-chhoti cheezen matter a lot.
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