To say Suresh Raina has come a long way from World T20 in England to the West Indies 2010 is stating the obvious.
What is not so obvious is the means to the end — Raina’s evolution from an errant talent without adequate technique against the rising ball to his emergence as a reliable and big-match player.
His century against South Africa the other day and an equally effective half century in the IPL-III final take care of that point. Match-winning efforts!
“He has always been a match-winner,” remarks Stephen Fleming, under whose watchful gaze Raina developed into a formidable batsman.
“Yup, I’m delighted by his hundred, not surprised. He is capable of much higher deeds,” Fleming, currently in New Zealand, says in conversation with DNA.
The New Zealander gives credit to the player, not himself. “We have worked out plans on the areas where we thought he might be attacked. He tried hard at the nets with rising balls to make the right adjustments. He is a hard trier.”
Fleming reveals that Raina was prepared to face a barrage of shot balls every time he went out to bat. “He knew that he would be attacked with short balls and I felt he is more than equipped to deal with it. I just had to make him realise his strengths. He went on to turn the so-called weakness into his strength.”
The difference, Fleming points out, is that Raina did not allow his strong points to be affected by the adjustments he made to play the short stuff. “That’s what good players do. Improvement in one area cannot be allowed to lead to deterioration in another area.”
Fleming’s contribution was more mental than technical. “To be
honest, Suresh has been working on this with Gary Kirsten. My duty has been to facilitate and organise the facilities needed for him to work on those areas. More specifically I worked on the mental part of Suresh and his Twenty20 game.
“I’ve advised him on what frame of mind he should be in a Twenty20 format,” he said.
The former Black Caps’ skipper thinks Raina can get better because of the environment he is in.
“He will improve simply because he has an amazing opportunity to learn. He plays with great players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni. He knows the value of his proximity to such great players and he is using that to the maximum. He constantly listens to them. He is grabbing that opportunity with both hands.”
The IPL-winning coach feels Raina is able to expand his repertoire because he is not afraid of playing them.
“Success breeds confidence. The range of shots he plays is a kind of expression of himself. He is able to play them because of his new-found confidence. His level of confidence matches his abilities. He is very positive and is not afraid of playing shots.”
According to Fleming, Raina’s consistency is largely due to the
realisation that he might lose the opportunity to bat higher up in the order if he were to falter. “He’s quite ambitious and is also aware that he is a good player now.”
Being a left-hander himself, Fleming admits that it was for him to understand Raina’s requirements but rates the young Uttar Pradesh bat higher than himself. “He is very hard to bowl to I’d imagine. At this stage, Suresh is well ahead of his age in cricket. I was not even half as talented at that stage.”
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