Suresh Raina : A Never Ending Lean-patch?

SURESH RAINA : A NEVER ENDING LEAN-PATCH?

                              By Utsav Chaudhary

Whenever the name Suresh Raina comes to our mind, the image of an aggressive left handed batsman comes to our mind. A batsman who happens to be an excellent fielder and the most experienced player in the current ODI squad after MS Dhoni. After playing under the aegis of the four stalwarts of Indian Cricket (Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly) for many years, this new Indian team is currently in its re-constructing phase hence the presence of an experienced player in the team becomes a necessity. But Suresh Raina's form over the past year has been a matter of major concern for the team.

India is at the pinnacle of ODI cricket at the moment and the one disposition that is common for the members of such team is their consistency in performance. Suresh Raina on the other hand has not scored a half century against any of the major ODI teams last year. His 83 against England on 27th January 2013 at Dharamsala remains his last. After that, though he has scored one fifty in 2013 but that was against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo which will not help his case if we were to indict him for not performing. 

During the 1st ODI against New Zealand at Napier, when Raina got out hooking to a short and fast delivery of Adam Milne, the same old question about his inability to play the short ball was hurled at him, again. It was during  the 2009 T20 world cup in England that made this weakness of Raina's conspicuous. Since then teams around the world have been bowling short to him and he has been falling prey to that. If a player who is in the team as a main middle order batsman and has not scored 100 in 4 years casts serious doubts in his inclusion in the team as a regular member. During the series with Australia at home in late 2013, Raina was promoted up the order to number 4, but again he failed there as well. 

When in form players like Cheteswar Pujara and Ambati Rayadu are still waiting for their chance to get into this ODI team, Suresh Raina is been given too many matches to get back into form. It is said that a team, when winning, should continue with the winning combination, but India's abysmal performance in South Africa and now losing the 1st ODI in New Zealand should make them re-think their strategy of playing an out of form Raina.

Since his inception in the team in 2005, Raina has been a regular member of the team. He has played important innings at crucial points in many matches to help India win matches, but when a bad patch is stretched too long for a batsman it is time for him to go back into domestic cricket and make his way back into the team. For there are 4 more ODIs left in this series, I hope Raina gains his form back and proves his critics otherwise.