Suresh Raina on one reason why Indian team of his time won ICC trophies and why the current lot is struggling

Suresh Raina played for Indian team from 2005-2019.

Suresh Raina going unsold in the recent IPL 2022 mega auction was one of the biggest surprises of the event, as many expected franchises to bid heavily for him, given his stellar record for Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Lions in the tournament history.

However, he failed to find a bid in the auction, and potentially, the 35-year-old’s cricket career has come to an end, as Raina had announced his retirement from international cricket in 2020 along with MS Dhoni. He was part of CSK’s four IPL title wins in 2010, 2011, 2018, and 2021 and also part of both of their Champions League T20 victories as well.

Raina was one of the best white-ball players India ever produced and even captained the side on occasions. He was part of the Indian teams which won the 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. 

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In a recent interaction with the Indian Express at Idea Exchange, Suresh Raina compared the Indian team of his time and the current unit and highlight one factor why the current team is struggling to win an ICC event, and why the team of his era was so successful in world events.

This comes after the Indian team’s failure to win any ICC event since 2013, despite reaching the finals of the T20 World Cup 2014, and the 2017 Champions Trophy. India also reached the semi-finals of the 2015 and 2019 ODI World Cups, while getting eliminated in the league stage of the T20 World Cup 2021 recently.   

He said that the lack of a sixth bowling option is hampering the Indian team’s chances as it has to depend only on five bowlers.

He said that during his time, there were multiple options for the captain to choose from as he could bowl, there was Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and Yusuf Pathan as well, who could bowl as over or two.

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“I think this is why we won the 2007 World T20, the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy. When I started in Ranji, I remember our coach Gyanu bhai (Gyanendra Pandey) would always tell us, ‘you should bowl.’ It gives a captain the ability to get in eight-ten overs if he has a sixth or seventh bowling option, when he is playing only five bowlers. That is good planning." 

“So you see Viru paa (Sehwag), Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, and me, including in the 2011 World Cup, all would bowl,” said the veteran cricketer. 

He cited the same problem as the reason for the Indian team’s first-round exit from the T20 World Cup last year.

“When we lost in the Champions Trophy (2017), or even recently in Dubai (in the T20 World Cup), we did not have a sixth bowling option. Now Shreyas Iyer is working on his bowling, I think he should keep working hard. Rohit will have a good option then.

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In the South Africa series, recently, Aiden Markram was bowling six-eight overs upfront, and the main bowlers were coming in later. This is a big factor for the Indian team. Suryakumar Yadav can bowl as well. Even Rohit would bowl before his injury. So someone will have to step in, and bowl at least six-eight overs regularly in nets,” he further stated. 

Raina further suggested that the batters should put in extra efforts to contribute to the side with the ball. 

“Batsmen should definitely work on their batting but they need to come in early or stay back for half an hour for the nation (to bowl a bit in the nets). They will have to like that process. Once you start liking it, you will not go away without bowling five-six overs,” said the former India captain.

India will now play West Indies in a three-T20I series in Kolkata from February 16 onwards.

(Indian Express inputs)