|
|
Suresh Raina concentrating on proper shot selection. posted under: India | All news |
 India’s season starts in Sri Lanka with a 5-ODI series and there’s going to be a lot of pressure on the team and especially on Suresh Raina, whose form has been inconsistent for quite some time now. Seven international seasons in, he’s seen his share of ups and downs and opened up to further details in an interview.
Raina spoke about his journey till now, pointing out that there have been amazing moments like winning the World Cup, being part of the number 1 Test team at a point, winning the Indian Premiere League (IPL) twice with the Chennai Super Kings and having won prestigious domestic cricket tournaments like the Ranji Trophy, the Duleep Trophy and the Deodhar Trophy. He also said that there were disappointing times as well, having suffered crushing defeats many a time and being dropped out of the International Test side. Having said that, he added that his main aim was to keep going out there and trying to prove himself every single day.
When asked whether his batting was getting affected because he was often moved up and down the order, he said that batting at the top has always been better, where he could get more opportunities, later adding that at the end of the day, it was a team game and that everyone deserved a shot. He said that batting down the order wasn’t that great, but pointed out that 30s or 40s at the end of an innings have always proved to be crucial.
The 25-year-old also spoke about how important technique and composure were when it came to playing matches. He said that he had struggled with these two things in the past and was working on them, adding that it was just a mental thing and that he didn’t need to cut down on his strokes but he needed to pick and choose when to play which shot.
He later added that the “always remain positive” attitude which the world’s top batsmen carried with them was their greatest strength, saying that team-mates Yuvraj Singh and India’s captain MS Dhoni had always supported him, no matter what.
One interesting question that was asked was whether he was eyeing Rahul Dravid’s spot in the Test team, now that The Wall has retired. Raina quickly responded to this, saying that it will be extremely difficult to fill the shoes of someone like Rahul Bhai, adding that the legend had set the benchmark really high for the generation to come. It was his generation’s responsibility to carry the Dravid legacy forward and he would do everything in his power to match the great one’s stand. Raina said that his main focus as of now was to get into the Test side, and he is planning on doing this by pulling out all stops in his performance, scoring heavily in every opportunity he got.
He said that the top 5 to 6 Test teams have gotten extremely competitive in the recent past and that there was no need to panic about India’s current #6 spot in the ICC Test rankings. “ If we play good cricket, the ranking will take care of itself,” he concluded. |
|
