During Dhoni's reign, Raina was one of the regulars in the Indian squad, however, his international appearances dried up since Virat Kohli took over.
Veteran Team India cricketer Suresh Raina has finally responded to Yuvraj Singh's comments on how the then captain MS Dhoni favoured him over Yuvraj.
"Suresh Raina had larger support then because MS used to back him. Every captain has a favourite player and I think Mahi really backed Raina at that time," Yuvraj had said on a talk show.
"Yusuf Pathan was also performing well at that time and even I was doing well and was also picking wickets. And Raina was not in good touch then. They did not have a left-arm spinner at that time and I was picking wickets so they did not have any choice."
Now, the left-handed batsman has expressed his thoughts on Yuvi comments and claimed that MS always backed him as he knew the talent in him.
"I would say MS definitely supported me, he supported me because he knew I have talent, I’ve done it for him, CSK and Team India, whenever he supported me."
"The best part about him is that he will tell you after two games, ‘If you don’t score, I’ve to take a big step.’ I said just give me one or two games, I will make sure not to repeat mistakes," Raina was quoted as saying by multiple outlets.
During Dhoni's reign, Raina was one of the regulars in the Indian squad, however, his international appearances dried up since Virat Kohli took over.
Raina's last played in the blue jersey in an ODI against England in July 2018. It was the only ODI series he was involved in that year and one of five international series he was part of in 2018.
His last Test appearance came in the 2014/15 series in Australia which was also the one in which Dhoni retired from the longest format.
The 33-year-old also spoke on the challenges a middle-order batsman faces, "You know, middle-order isn’t easy, every game you play sometimes you bat for 10-15 overs and sometimes for 30 overs."
"Our position is different and we’ve to chip in with the ball, we’ve to get 2-3 wickets and we’ve to save 15-20 runs. Middle-order has always been challenging for me, but, I’ve always taken everything positively," he added.
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 "Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni")
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